Environmental Protection Interview, Government Environmental Protection Subsidies and Enterprise Green Innovation

Abstract

Development at the expense of the environment has led to severe environmental problems in China. Faced with the increasing demand for green from the masses, environmental pollution is not only a health issue but also a political issue. In order to achieve the dual goals of “economic growth” and “ecological protection”, the state vigorously advocates green innovation. In order to solve the problem of ineffective local environmental governance and official inaction, the environmental protection interview system came into being. After the region was interviewed for environmental protection, the government strengthened environmental governance and greatly increased the environmental costs of enterprises through stricter environmental regulations, reduction of environmental protection subsidies, and increased tax penalties. So, under the theme of green development, does environmental protection interview increase the willingness of enterprises to innovate and stimulate the improvement of the level of enterprise green innovation? What is the role of government subsidies? As an exogenous event, the implementation of the New Deal for Environmental Protection Interview in 2014 provides a good environment for us to test the effect of environmental protection interview policies. Based on the corporate citizenship theory and the planned behavior theory, this paper uses the DID method to explore the impact of environmental protection interview on enterprise green innovation, as well as the regulatory role of government environmental protection subsidies. The results show that: （1） Environmental protection interview has significantly improved the level of enterprise green innovation in interviewed regions, especially the level of practical green innovation. （2） Government environmental protection subsidies have a significant impact on the effect of environmental protection interview policies; and the lower the government environmental protection subsidy level, the stronger the role of environmental protection interview in promoting enterprise green innovation. （3） The driving force for enterprises in interviewed regions to carry out green innovation comes from internal self-regulation and external environmental constraints. The contribution of this paper lies in that: （1） In the research of environmental protection interview and green innovation, few scholars start from government support, considering the regulatory role of government environmental protection subsidies in this impact path. At the same time, no scholar eliminates the “noise” of non-environmental protection subsidies, and studies the impact of government environmental protection subsidies on the effect of environmental protection interview policies. （2） Existing studies mostly examine the impact of environmental protection interview on regional environmental governance and corporate behavior, but few pay much attention to the impact of government behavior on the effect of environmental interview policies. （3） Existing studies mostly examine the usefulness and adaptability of green innovation, ignoring the social attributes of enterprises, the necessity of corporate citizenship behavior, and the behavioral intention of enterprises. Based on the corporate citizenship theory and the planned behavior theory, this paper reveals the role of environmental protection interview and government environmental protection subsidies on enterprise green innovation strategies. （4） Incorporating government environmental protection subsidies into the theoretical analysis framework explains the impact of government environmental protection subsidies on environmental protection interview and enterprise green innovation, which is an important supplement to the effect of environmental protection interview policies in the context of China’s green development in the new era. It is a good reference for government departments to use government support to serve the environmental protection interview system, improve the effectiveness of environmental protection interview policies, and extend the timeliness of the effectiveness of environmental protection interview policies.