High-polluting Industries Research Articles

Analysis of Low-Carbon Contribution Pathways for Resource-Based Cities under the Dual Carbon Goals: The Case of Tangshan, China

China is still the biggest carbon emission entity at present, which is mostly produced by resource-based cities. It means that actions to control carbon emissions in order to mitigate the greenhouse effect are urgently needed. The purpose of this study is to examine resource-based cities' low-carbon development strategies after the dual carbon regulations were put into place. Using a literature review as the research technique, this paper uses Tangshan as an example to explore the current condition, difficulties that exist, and Policy recommendations for resource-based cities looking to improve in a low-carbon manner. The result shows that there are now some clear issues with resource-based cities' low-carbon growth routes: high reliance on high-emission industries, the incomplete top-level design, and “the intensifying competitive pressure from surrounding cities. The following optimization suggestions have been proposed for the above-mentioned issues. The optimization direction of resource-based areas should be to clarify the top-level design, increase competitiveness, and continue to increase industrial carbon emission reduction. In other words, this kind of cities should reduce the dependence of urban development on high-polluting industries and attract talent to cope with external competitive pressures requires the government to coordinate and cooperate across departments, so that under the dual carbon goals they can achieve carbon reduction in resource-based cities which are under the dual carbon goals.

Can female CEOs improve corporate environmental, social and governance performance?

Purpose In the context of the severe global challenges posed by climate and environmental issues, this paper aims to explore the connection between female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and the level of sustainable development in companies. This study aims to investigate the impact of female CEOs on corporate ESG performance and provide a detailed analysis of the underlying mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of listed companies from 2010 to 2021, as reported by Bloomberg. This study uses logit regression models to test hypotheses and conduct robustness tests using the generalized method of moments, propensity score matching and heckman two statge tests. Findings The research findings indicate that female CEOs can enhance a company’s ESG performance, primarily by elevating the level of green innovation and engaging in more philanthropic activities. When environmental uncertainty is high, the risk-averse attitude of female CEOs may diminish the enhancement of ESG performance. However, granting a higher proportion of equity to female CEOs incentivizes risk-taking, thereby strengthening the improvement of ESG performance. Further analysis reveals that the impact of female CEOs on ESG performance is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises, high-pollution industries, and companies with low financing constraints. Research limitations/implications The authors have shown that two key ways in which female CEOs enhance a company’s ESG performance are by increasing the level of green innovation and assuming more social responsibility. Nonetheless, this remains a shortcoming of this work, opening a door for future research to examine and enrich. There may be other possible mechanisms explaining the influence of female CEOs on corporate ESG performance. More research is warranted about the CEO’s additional traits, which were not considered in this study but may have an impact on a company’s ESG performance. Finally, while the analysis has delved into the moderating effects of external factors such as environmental uncertainty and CEO ownership on the influence of female CEOs on corporate ESG performance, there is room for exploring whether other factors also play a moderating role in future studies. Practical implications First, the findings of this study highlight the beneficial societal and economic effects of choosing female CEOs. The inclination to take on social responsibility and care for the environment are both higher among female CEOs. Furthermore, the authors have also discovered that female CEOs possess unique advantages in promoting corporate sustainability and enhancing ESG standards. This can contribute to breaking down stereotypes about gender roles in the workplace. Finally, this research shows that organizational heterogeneity and market risks have an impact on female CEOs’ capacity to improve company ESG performance. Originality/value A significant innovation of this paper lies in its unique focus on the connection between female CEOs and corporate ESG performance, along with the underlying mechanisms. Against the backdrop of sustainable development, the paper integrates social gender theory, upper echelon theory and agency theory into a comprehensive framework, shedding light on the influence of female CEOs on ESG performance and the associated mechanisms.

Assessing the Impact of Environmental Accounting Message Disclosure Quality on Financing Costs in High-Pollution Industries

This article explores the relationship between environmental accounting message disclosure quality and financing costs in environmentally impactful industries. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, it combines quantitative analysis of financial indicators with qualitative insights from industry experts. The findings indicate a significant correlation between high-quality environmental message disclosure and lower equity financing costs, suggesting that investors prioritize sustainability in their decisions. Companies that demonstrate greater environmental accountability enjoy improved access to capital. The article concludes that integrating robust environmental accounting practices and effective message disclosure is essential for fostering sustainable business practices, enhancing long-term financial viability, and promoting a culture of sustainability and resilience in the face of environmental challenges

Examining institutional investor preferences: The influence of ESG ratings on stock holding in China's stock market

Amidst the global rise in ESG investing, this study scrutinizes China's institutional investors' preference for high-ESG stocks. Utilizing A-share data from 2015 to 2022, our analysis reveals a strong preference for high-ESG stocks, driven by their potential to reduce operational risks, enhance profitability, and reputation. This preference is further amplified by significant analyst report coverage, yet moderated by disparities in ESG ratings. We also observe a distinct trend among independent investors, who favor high-ESG firms, particularly in non-state-owned sectors and in smaller companies within high-pollution industries. The findings suggest that guiding institutional investments towards ESG can steer China’s capital market towards more environmentally friendly businesses, thereby promoting sustainable economic development.

Impact of urban vitality on carbon emission—an analysis of 222 Chinese cities based on the spatial Durbin model

Urban development is undergoing rapid growth, and the increasingly prominent environmental protection challenge underscores the crucial need to balance urban vitality development with carbon emissions for sustainable goals. how urban vitality affect carbon emissions? By collecting and analyzing data from 222 prefecture-level cities, utilizing long-time series data from 2011 to 2019, and employing Spatial Durbin Method (SDM) to study. The study explores various dimensions of urban vitality, including economic, social, and population indicators. The direct impact of economic vitality on carbon emissions is negative, while the spillover effect is significantly positive, resulting in an overall positive total effect. There are noticeable spillover effects associated with economic vitality; a rise in one city’s economic vitality may result in a rise in carbon emissions in nearby prefecture-level cities. The reason behind the increase in carbon emissions in nearby metropolitan areas is the departure of some energy-intensive and highly polluting enterprises from the central sections of nearby cities. While enhancing the economic vitality of cities, it is recommended to strive for the development of a green economy, aiming for a sustainable development balance between economic growth and environmental conservation. Population vitality has a favorable impact on carbon emissions both directly and indirectly, with the direct effect being particularly significant. The population expansion of prefecture-level cities exerts a substantial influence on urban carbon emissions. Additionally, social vitality exhibits positive direct and spillover effects on carbon emissions, as well as a significant overall positive effect. Policymakers are urged to prioritize clean energy use while fostering economic growth, prevent high-polluting industries’ migration to neighboring urban areas, manage population expansion, promote environmental awareness, and implement integrated urban planning through collaborative governance for sustainable development.

The role of the digital economy in enhancing green innovation: Evidence from Chinese A-share listed enterprises

The rapid growth of the digital economy presents both challenges and opportunities for enterprises aiming to innovate sustainably. This study investigates how the digital economy influences green innovation in enterprises, addressing a significant gap in existing research. Utilizing data from A-share listed enterprises from 2007 to 2022, we apply fixed effect and mediation models to examine this relationship. Our findings reveal that the digital economy substantially enhances green innovation by alleviating financing constraints and fostering digital transformation. This effect is especially significant in state-owned enterprises and high-pollution industries. These results underscore the potential of digital advancements to drive sustainable practices, offering practical insights for policymakers and business leaders. Future research could further explore the long-term impacts of digital economy integration on various industry sectors.

The impact of climate policy uncertainty on stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China

This paper examines the broad impact of climate policy uncertainty (CPU) on stock price synchronicity (SYN) using a newly developed news-based index. Our analysis covers listed firms in China from 2000 to 2022. We find that CPU significantly and negatively affects SYN. This negative relationship is particularly pronounced in high-polluting industries and is more evident after the Paris Agreement. These results remain robust across alternative measures of SYN.

Can ecological zoning act as an environmental management tool for protecting regional habitat quality: Causal evidence from the national key ecological function zone in China

Habitat degradation is one of the most serious environmental problems worldwide, which threatens human wellbeing and sustainable development. Exploring how to protect natural habitats has become a research hotspot in the environmental management field. Ecological zoning has been widely used in habitat protection, but its actual effectiveness has been rarely revealed, especially with the robust and reliable causal inference method. Therefore, taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China as the study area, we first quantified habitat quality and changes at the district/county scale during 2005–2019. Then, we used the National Key Ecological Function Zone (NKEFZ) as a representative ecological zone scheme, and explored the effectiveness of the NKEFZ in protecting habitat quality with the Propensity Score Matching and Difference-in-Difference combined method, which is a representative causal inference method. We found that habitat quality showed an uneven distribution during the study period, and habitat quality of districts/counties within the NKEFZ was higher than that outside the NKEFZ with statistical significance. Most districts/counties experienced a habitat quality decrease, but the decrease within the NKEFZ is less than that outside the NKEFZ. We observed that the NKEFZ can protect habitat quality from the causal relationship perspective, but there was the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of the NKEFZ effectiveness. In terms of the spatial dimension, the NKEFZ was the most effective in the Lower Reach of the YREB. In terms of the temporal dimension, there was a 1-year time-lag effect of the NKEFZ effectiveness, and NKEFZ effectiveness experienced a sharp increase from 2016. The NKEFZ contributed to protecting habitat quality through multiple management strategies such as urban land quota, high pollution industry prohibition, and ecological compensation. Overall, this study verified that the ecological zone scheme can contribute to habitat quality protection, and emphasizes that the effectiveness of ecological zoning may vary across time and space. This work can support ecological zoning implementation with robust evidence, and provides a novel perspective for understanding the effectiveness of ecological zoning.

How Does Green Bond Issuance Facilitate the Spillover Effect of Green Technology Innovation in Industry? Evidence from China

As the concept of balancing environmental protection and maintaining sustainable economic development has been widely recognized, the green bond is assuming an increasingly significant role within China’s financial market. We utilize the data from China’s A-share listed enterprises that issued bonds in the period 2010 to 2021 and try to examine whether and how green bond issuance facilitates the spillover effect of green technology innovation in industry. The results show that: (1) Green bond issuance can generate a spillover effect, greatly enhancing green technology innovation within the industry. (2) The spillover effect of green technology innovation from green bond issuance within an industry is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, and relatively weaker for enterprises in Northeast China in the same industry. Relative to non-high-pollution industries, high-pollution industries reinforce the spillover effect. (3) Financing cost and agency cost are important influencing mechanisms for green bond issuance to improve peer enterprises’ level of green technology innovation. Overall, the results provide theoretical support for encouraging the market for green bonds to maintain their development over the long term and for effectively promoting the transformation of the economy and society to a green and low carbon one.

Study on the establishment of air pollutant and carbon emission inventory and collaborative emission reduction potential of China's coking industry from 2012 to 2022

Coking industry is usually regarded as a high pollution and high energy consumption industry. China is accelerating its efforts to reduce pollution and carbon emissions in the industrial sector, which has received little attention as the world's largest producer of coke. Therefore, in this study, the trend of air pollution and carbon emissions in China's coking industry and the path of coordinated emission reduction were studied. The results indicate that the average annual emissions of PM, SO2, NOx, VOCs, and CO2 in China's coking industry from 2012 to 2022 amount to 205.98, 69.47, 193.45, 599.80 Gg and 191.10 Tg, respectively. The main sources of PM, SO2, NOx, VOCs and CO2 in coking industry were coal preparation (51.5 %), charge and pushing (39.5 %), coke oven gas (99.8 %), byproduct recovery (47.0 %) and fuel combustion (87.5 %). The emissions from coking plants in central and southern Shanxi, eastern and southern Hebei, and central Shandong are the most concentrated. Ultra-low emission transformation and deep treatment of VOCs have greatly reduced pollutant emissions in key areas of air pollutant control, but the actual emission reduction effect of these measures has been weakened by the additional emissions caused by the increase of coke production in other non-key areas. The research on synergetic emission reduction path shows that there is a great synergistic benefit between air pollutants and CO2 emission reduction in coking industry. It is estimated that the APeq (air pollutants and carbon equivalent) of China's coking industry in 2025, 2028 and 2030 will decrease by 38.2 %, 63.5 % and 70.8 % respectively compared with 2022. With the continuous promotion of pollution reduction and carbon reduction measures, the emission reduction potential of China's coking industry will gradually shift from key areas to non-key areas.

The impact of low-carbon city pilot on carbon emissions of high-polluting enterprises − Based on financing constraint perspective

As the major contributor to climate change, enterprises in high-polluting industries have a large deal of potential to reduce their carbon emissions, and the efficacy of that reduction is correlated with the nation's overall environmental pollution and climate change. As a comprehensive environmental regulation policy, whether the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) can promote the carbon emission reduction of high-polluting enterprises remains to be verified. Based on the data of all high-polluting listed companies in China during the period of 2010–2020, this study evaluates the implementation effect of the LCCP through the multi-period difference-in-differences model, and conducts a series of robustness tests. In addition, the implementation path, heterogeneity and industry spillover effects of the policy are also studied. The study shows that the LCCP policy significantly reduces the growth rate of carbon emissions of enterprises in high-polluting industries by 1.06 percentage points on average. Financing constraints play a negative moderating role between the LCCP and the growth rate of carbon emissions. The mechanism test demonstrates that the LCCP reduces the carbon emission growth rate of enterprises in high-polluting industries through enterprise technological innovation and increasing environmental protection investment level. Further analysis can also find that the LCCP has a more obvious emission reduction effect on state-owned enterprises and enterprises in areas with lax environmental law enforcement. And there is an economic spillover effect but no industrial spillover effect. In view of this, local governments should play a guiding role in the policy, continue to expand the scale of the LCCP and focus on non-state-owned enterprises to promote the green transformation of high-polluting enterprises. This study offers significant theoretical and practical reference value for the further implementation of environmental regulation in the field of environmental governance and the reduction of enterprise carbon emissions.

Corporate environmentalism and economic performance: examining the effects of ISO 14001 certification on technical efficiency

The ISO 14001 voluntary standard is a blueprint for improving an organization’s environmental record and one of many tools available to address our planet’s ecological challenges. Since its introduction in 1996, adoption of the standard has surged globally, despite its significant costs. We examine the economic benefits to firms of being ISO 14001-certified by exploring whether certification results in a more efficient production process, using a panel of South Korean manufacturing firms and a stochastic frontier model with endogeneity. We find evidence that ISO 14001 certification significantly improves technical efficiency among high-polluting industries, increasing output by an average of 2.7%. This research enriches the empirical literature on voluntary environmental programs by showing that the standard improves technical efficiency among manufacturing firms. This may account for the popularity of the standard in South Korea, a global leader in manufacturing and exports, where its effects on efficiency have not been empirically examined.

Environmental regulation and manufacturing employment: Evidence from China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan

This paper employs a difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) identification strategy to investigate the impact of environmental regulation on employment in the manufacturing sector in China, using the country's Eleventh Five-Year Plan (FYP) as a quasi-experiment. Our results indicate that the 11th FYP had a significant negative impact on firm employment, with every 10% increase in SO2 reduction targets resulting in a 3.1% decrease in employment for firms in high-pollution industries. This corresponds to a reduction of approximately 9 people per firm. Our findings indicate that firms primarily reduce SO2 emissions by reducing production levels and transitioning to cleaner energy sources. Additionally, we show that political promotion incentives played a role in driving the decline in employment. Heterogeneous tests reveal that the impact was more significant for private firms, SMEs and trade-exposed firms.

Sustainability and Financial Performance: Examining ESG Disclosure And Carbon Intensity In Indonesia's High-Polluting Industries

Sustainability and Financial Performance: Examining ESG Disclosure And Carbon Intensity In Indonesia's High-Polluting Industries

Efficiency of construction waste and carbon reduction in the construction industry: based on improved three stage SBM-DEA model in China

PurposeReducing construction waste generation and carbon emission in the construction industry is crucial for the “dual carbon” goal. Evaluating the efficiency of reducing construction waste generation and carbon emission in the construction industry at the regional level is an important evaluation basis for the sustainable development of the construction industry. It provides a basis for formulating construction waste and carbon reduction policies tailored to local conditions and comprehensively promote the sustainable development of the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachA three stage SBM-DEA model based on non-expected outputs is proposed by combining the SBM-DEA model with the SFA method. The proposed model is used to evaluate the efficiency of construction waste and carbon reduction in the construction industry in 30 regions of China from 2010 to 2020. Moreover, the study explores the impact of environmental variables such as urbanization level, proportion of construction industry employees, resident consumption level, and technological progress.FindingsFrom 2010 to 2020, the efficiency of construction waste and carbon reduction in China’s construction industry has been increasing year by year. Provinces with higher efficiency of construction waste and carbon reduction in the construction industry are mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal areas, showing an overall pattern of “East>West>Northeast>Middle”. There is a clear correlation between the level of urbanization, the proportion of construction industry employees, residents’ consumption level, technological progress, labor input, machinery input, and capital investment. The construction waste and carbon emission efficiency of the construction industry in various provinces is greatly influenced by environmental factors.Practical implicationsThe research results provide policy makers and business managers with effective policies for reducing construction waste generation and carbon emission in the construction industry, especially circular economy policies. To provide empirical support for further understanding the connotation of construction waste and carbon reduction in the construction industry, to create innovative models for construction waste and carbon reduction, and to promote the multiple benefits of construction waste and carbon reduction in the construction industry, and to provide empirical support for countries and enterprises with similar development backgrounds in China to formulate relevant policies and decision-making.Originality/valueThe construction industry is a high investment, high energy consumption, and high pollution industry. This study uses the three stage SBM-DEA model to explore the efficiency of construction waste and carbon reduction in the construction industry, providing a new perspective for the evaluation of sustainable development in the construction industry, enriching and improving the theory of sustainable development.

CEO Experience and Enterprise Environment, Social and Governance Performance: Evidence from China

Practicing ESG concepts is considered a viable way to achieve sustainable development for enterprises and is an important contributor to realizing high-quality economic development. This paper builds on the upper echelons theory, which posits that a company’s strategic decisions are influenced by the cognitive perceptions and values of its CEO. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021, this paper empirically examines the impact of CEOs’ green, academic, and political experiences on corporate ESG performance through multiple regression analysis. This study found that CEO experience has a significant impact on corporate ESG performance: rich green, academic, and political experience promotes corporate ESG performance. A stepwise regression test found that CEO experience drives corporate ESG performance by improving corporate green innovation and alleviating financing constraints. Further analysis showed that the contribution of CEO experience to ESG performance is more pronounced for firms with younger CEOs, non-state-owned enterprises, and high-polluting industries, although CEO gender is insignificant. The findings of this study provide important policy implications to improve ESG responsibility.

Asset redeployability and green innovation

We present evidence that firms with greater asset redeployability are more likely to engage in green innovation activities, as measured by corporate green patents and citations. This finding supports the notion of funding flexibility and withstands numerous robustness and endogeneity tests. The relationship is particularly pronounced for firms facing high climate change uncertainty, as well as those in high-polluting industries. Moreover, we find further evidence that the pursuit of green innovation is associated with improved firm value over the long term. These insights shed light on how asset redeployability correlates with both innovation outcomes and firm performance within the context of green finance for sustainable development.

A waste extended input-output-based Transformer-LSTM method for analyzing hazardous waste reduction patterns: A case study of shanghai

Population growth, economic development, and industrialization have resulted in a notable surge in the hazardous waste (HW) generation, consequently leading to adverse effects on human health and environmental safety. In this work, a Waste Extended Input-Output-based Transformer-Long Short-Term Memory (WEIO-TL) method was developed to simulate the HW generation patterns of various economic industries in the supply chain and generate the desired strategies for reducing HW generation. The WEIO-TL method was applied to Shanghai to identify its HW reduction path and potential by 2035. Multiple scenarios were designed to investigate the impacts of different degrees of economic and technological development on HW generation. The primary results indicated that the economic proportion of each key industry and the technological innovation capability were the main factors influencing the HW generation in Shanghai. The six key industries identified by the WEIO were the chemical industry (CI), other services (OS), transportation equipment (MTE), computers, communication, and other electronic equipment (MCCOEE), wholesale and retail trades (WRT), and construction (C). HW generation would peak at 1570.9 kt in 2025 and subsequently decrease to 949.0 kt by 2035 under the optimal scenario based on the optimal TL model (R2 and RMSE values of 0.976 and 5.968), associated with industry structure optimization (i.e., part of high-polluting industries would be shifted to service) and technological innovation capability improvement. The results of the study will serve as a theoretical foundation to guide other cities toward achieving "zero waste."

How does digital finance influence corporate greenwashing behavior?

This paper examines the effects of digital finance and corporate greenwashing as well as the underlying mechanisms using panel data from China's A-share, listed companies between 2012 and 2021. By employing panel regression and mediation effect models, we demonstrate that digital finance considerably inhibits corporate greenwashing. This conclusion remains robust after a series of tests, including replacing the core explanatory variables, lagging digital finance by one period, using alternative dependent variables, and applying the instrumental variables method. More importantly, we find that digital finance curbs corporate greenwashing by alleviating financing constraints and improving informational transparency. In addition, we reveal that digital finance has heterogeneous effects on corporate greenwashing. The inhibitory effect of digital finance on corporate greenwashing is more pronounced for high-polluting industries, under the conditions of strict environmental regulations, and in China's central and western regions.

Does digital economy affect corporate ESG performance? New insights from China

With the explosive development and innovation of digital and information technologies, a big data era has arrived in China. We examine the influence of the digital economy on corporate ESG performance using panel data from A-share listed firms in China between 2011 and 2021. First, we find that the digital economy can significantly improve corporate ESG performance, especially in environmental and governance dimensions. Second, our mechanism analysis identifies two channels—green innovation and digital transformation—through which the digital economy affects corporate ESG performance. Third, our cross-sectional analysis shows that the effect of the digital economy on corporate ESG performance is more pronounced for listed firms located in areas with lower economic levels, facing higher financing constraints, and belonging to high-polluting industries. Finally, our results remain robust after conducting a series of tests. Our study underscores the policy implication that embracing and promoting digital economy initiatives can serve as a potent lever to enhance corporate ESG performance, particularly in environmental and governance dimensions.