Stimulating innovation or enhancing productivity? The impact of environmental regulations on agricultural green growth

Abstract

A comprehensive understanding of the impact of environmental regulations on agricultural green growth is crucial for formulating appropriate policy designs and achieving effective climate change mitigation. This study, based on the Porter Hypothesis framework, aims to propose our hypotheses in the influence of environmental regulations on agricultural green growth. This study first utilizes the Super-SBM model combined with the global Malmquist-Luenberger index to measure agricultural green growth in G20 countries. Subsequently, the study analyzes the impact of environmental regulations on agricultural technological innovation and green growth, highlighting variations among countries with different development levels. The results indicate: (1) Significant differences exist in agricultural green growth among G20 countries, generally exhibiting an increasing trend. (2) Environmental regulations have a significant impact on both agricultural green growth and agricultural technological innovation, but the effects of different types of environmental regulations are various. Furthermore, different conclusions are observed for countries with heterogeneous development levels. (3) There is a lag effect in the impact of environmental regulations on agricultural green growth and technological innovation, highlighting the importance of pre-establishing an environmental policy framework. (4) An inverted U-shape relationship exists between environmental regulations and agricultural green growth, while no such relationship is found in agricultural technological innovation.