Does carbon emission trading system induce enterprises’ green innovation?

Abstract

To control total carbon emissions and achieve the emission reduction target, the Chinese government has implemented the carbon emission trading system (CETS), which has been applied in two provinces and five cities since 2013. This study uses the environmental regulation policy of the pilot CETS as a quasi-experiment to investigate whether the implementation of this environmental policy induces green innovation among enterprises. This study employs a difference-in-differences model to conduct an empirical test using green patent data of A-share listed enterprises from 2002 to 2018. The results indicate that the CETS pilot-policy-induced green invention innovation in enterprises. Notably, compared with non-state-owned enterprises, the pilot policy is more conducive to promoting green innovation in state-owned enterprises.