Mixed Ownership Reform and Environmental Sustainable Development—Based on the Perspective of Carbon Performance

Abstract

Mixed ownership reform has contributed greatly to China’s economic development; however, there is little literature on how mixed ownership reform affects carbon performance in the context of environmentally sustainable development. Therefore, this paper takes A-share industrial state-owned enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2008 to 2020 as research samples to investigate the impact of mixed ownership reform on carbon performance through empirical tests. The results show that the mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises can improve the carbon performance of enterprises. The intermediary test shows that green innovation plays an intermediary role in the relationship between mixed ownership reform and carbon performance. Furthermore, compared with green management innovation, mixed ownership reform has a stronger promoting effect on green technology innovation, and green technology innovation has a greater impact on carbon performance. Heterogeneity analysis shows that in heavily polluted industries and competitive industries, mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises has a more significant role in improving carbon performance. Therefore, the mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises is of great significance for promoting environmental sustainable development. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence for the environmental sustainable development of state-owned enterprises in emerging markets.