Polluting Enterprises Research Articles

Capital market liberalization and corporate environmental performance: Evidence from the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect.

The implementation of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect marks the maturity of China's capital market, and the effect of the implementation has been the focus of academic attention. Based on this quasi-natural experiment, We select 3248 samples of heavily polluting enterprises listed in China in 2010-2020 to examine the impact of capital market liberalization and on corporate environmental performance.The results show that capital market liberalization significantly improves the environmental performance of heavy polluting enterprises. The results of the heterogeneity analysis indicate that the positive effect varies across firms with different ownership and internal controls. Finally, mechanism analysis results find that capital market liberalization promotes the environmental performance of heavily polluting firms by increasing environmental assets,reducing stock price volatility,and improving the quality of information disclosure.

Blockholders, Environmental Information Disclosure, and the Cost of Debt

ABSTRACT Debt financing is an essential source of external funds for Chinese-listed companies, but enterprises in heavily polluting industries face more severe financing difficulties due to the “financing penalty effect.” Solving the financing difficulties of heavy pollution enterprises has become a hot topic in academic and practical circles. This article applies heavily polluting listed companies from 2013 to 2022 in China as a sample to examine the impact of multiple blockholders (MB) on debt financing costs (DFC), considering the intermediary role of environmental information disclosure (EID). This article reveals that improved environmental information disclosure, driven by multiple blockholders, especially state-owned ones, can effectively reduce debt financing costs for heavily polluting enterprises compared to those dominated by a single major shareholder. These findings remain robust even after considering a series of checks, including the instrument variable method, propensity score matching (PSM), and alternative variables. In cases where the separation of ultimate control rights and cash flow rights is slight or the entity is state-owned, state-owned blockholders tend to exert a more effective governance role. Our research helps understand the role of multiple blockholders in corporate “green governance” and can provide a reference for alleviating the financing constraints of heavy-polluting enterprises.

Exploring the role of trade credit in facilitating low-carbon development: Insights from Chinese enterprises

As the world's largest emitter of carbon, China is proactively addressing climate change in a responsible manner. The country has set an ambitious goal of achieving the most significant reduction in carbon emission intensity globally within approximately 30 years. In light of the transition to a new low-carbon environment, it is imperative that Chinese enterprises assume a more proactive role in embracing carbon neutrality as a social responsibility. The question of how to supplement the green transformation funds that have not yet been covered by green finance has become a significant issue for Chinese enterprises seeking to achieve sustainable development and promote high-quality development. This study employs hand-collected data on companies' carbon emissions from 2018 to 2023, using the fixed effects model to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the role of trade credit embedded within the supply chain in driving the green evolution of Chinese companies and reducing their carbon dioxide emissions. The findings demonstrate that trade credit has a significant impact on reducing CO2 emissions for Chinese businesses while also enhancing their commitment to adopting greener practices, their capacity for investing in green transformation, and the quality of their green outputs. The results of the heterogeneity analysis indicate that the acquisition of trade credit exerts a more pronounced suppressive influence on carbon emissions for heavy-polluting enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises, low-supplier concentration enterprises, and maturity stage enterprises. Similarly, the supply of trade credit notably curtails the carbon emissions for non-heavy polluting enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises, low-medium customer concentration enterprises, and maturity stage enterprises. The empirical findings of this study contribute to reconciling the substantial dilemma between corporate goals for energy conservation, emissions reduction, and production growth. This research offers key insights to support businesses in achieving a gentle transition towards energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprint in line with the overarching trend of sustainable and low-carbon development.

The Impact of Supply Chain Network Structure on Green Innovation: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Absorption

ABSTRACT Green innovation is key to sustainable development. While the supply chain network affects corporate green innovation, the impact of the network’s structure remains unclear. On the basis of data concerning 737 Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2023, this study empirically investigates the impact of supply chain network structure (centrality, structural holes) on green innovation (exploratory, exploitative). The results reveal that centrality inhibits green innovation, whereas structural holes promote such innovation. These findings continue to be supported after robustness and endogeneity tests are performed. An analysis of the mediating mechanism reveals that centrality hinders green innovation by inhibiting knowledge absorption, whereas structural holes promote such innovation by facilitating knowledge absorption. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that high-profit enterprises, nonheavily polluting enterprises and enterprises that face low levels of financing constraints utilize supply chain networks to promote green innovation more effectively. The findings of this research provide both theoretical and empirical guidance for enterprises regarding the ability of supply chain network structure to promote green innovation.

Evolution strategies for collaborative governance of marine microplastic pollution from the industry-research integration perspective

IntroductionMarine microplastics, are widely distributed in the global marine environment, posing a challenging issue that requires the joint efforts of global stakeholders.MethodsTo effectively address the issue of marine microplastic pollution (MMP) governance and analyze the dynamic changes in governance willingness of various participants under different scenarios, this paper meticulously constructs a game theory framework encompassing polluting enterprises, research institutions, and environmental organizations. Results(1) On the political level, the implementation of continuous and strong economic penalty mechanisms is an effective means to deter enterprises from evading MMP governance responsibilities. However, the effective execution of this strategy highly depends on the participation and supervision of environmental organizations. Therefore, it is essential to assign more roles and responsibilities to environmental organizations to ensure the thorough execution of governance measures. (2) On the technical level, the effectiveness of research directly determines the functional status of enterprises and research institutions in the MMP governance decision-making system. Weaker entities tend to make decisions following the behavioral preferences of dominant entities. Thus, deepening the integration of industry and research and fully unleashing the effectiveness of research outcomes in MMP governance is a key path to enhancing overall governance efficiency and effectiveness. (3) On the economic level, high governance costs often become a significant factor limiting the enthusiasm of all parties to participate. However, when innovative cooperation models achieve cost sharing and benefit sharing, the governance willingness of participants significantly increases. It is evident that optimizing resource allocation, improving the efficiency of fund utilization, and establishing a diversified and sustainable funding guarantee mechanism are crucial for advancing the in-depth progress of MMP governance. DiscussionIn summary, this study not only provides profound theoretical insights into the interaction relationships and behavioral choices of multiple stakeholders in MMP governance but also offers practical strategic recommendations for constructing an efficient and collaborative governance system.

Path of Co-control of Pollution and Carbon Emissions Reduction in Typical Parks of Pharmaceutical and Health Industry in Beijing

The agglomeration of carbon emissions from the pharmaceutical and health industry has been growing gradually in Beijing. Conducting research on the path of co-control of pollution and carbon emission reduction in industrial parks is essential to realize synergy between economic development, pollution reduction, and green low-carbon. Based on the production activity data in 2020 of two typical parks of manufacturing and R&D, we selected six measures for co-control of pollution and carbon emission reduction and set up a synergistic development scenario to explore the collaborative development path of different types of parks. The results showed that： ① The primary carbon emission source in the two parks was energy consumption, such as natural gas and electricity, whereas the major pollution source was from key polluting enterprises. The emissions in the R&D park were significantly lower than those in manufacturing parks, with atmospheric pollutant emissions accounting for 25% of the manufacturing park's emissions. ② Energy structure and intensity, along with pollutant emission reduction measures, contributed 62.6% and 37.4% to pollution and carbon emission reduction for the R&D park and 81.6% and 13.5% for manufacturing park, respectively. ③ Adjusting the energy structure of the park and prioritizing the management of key polluting enterprises could achieve synergistic emission reduction, with the rate of emission reduction primarily reflecting atmospheric pollutants. Reducing energy intensity could also facilitate synergistic emission reduction, with a rapid rate of carbon emission reduction. Optimizing the industrial structure could lead to different degrees of pollution and carbon emissions increasing synergistically or not synergistically, owing to the particularity of the industrial structure of the park. ④ Applying measures to adjust the energy structure and reduce energy intensity and pollutant emissions into the collaborative path should be a priority. The governance scope of key polluting enterprises should be appropriately expanded in manufacturing parks. The synergistic effect of public environmental protection facilities of R&D parks should be focused on, in addition to reducing corporate pollutant emissions. Measures to optimize industrial structure at the park level should be adjusted to local conditions and scientifically guide industrial transformation and the settlement of high-tech enterprises.

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.

Does Confucian culture affect the efficiency of corporate green investments? Evidence from heavily polluting enterprises

ABSTRACT Against the backdrop of increasingly intensified conflicts between the development of heavily polluting enterprises and the resource environment, Confucian culture, which advocates environmental protection, has gradually penetrated into management decisions and has become an important tool for promoting green investment and transformation of enterprises. This study investigates the impact of Confucian culture on green investment efficiency using the SBM-DEA model and a multidimensional fixed-effects model (time, year, and region) with Chinese heavy polluting enterprises as a sample from 2016 to 2020. The findings of the study indicate that Confucian culture can enhance the efficiency of firms’ green investments. This is achieved by fostering human capital and managerial capabilities. This relationship is more pronounced among firms in regions with fewer environmental regulations and among state-owned enterprises. It is therefore recommended that heavily polluting enterprises, with the support of the government, should give play to the guiding role of Confucian culture and integrate the spirit of Confucianism into their operation and management. The results of this paper verify the effectiveness of Confucian culture, which is very important for accelerating the green development of heavy polluting enterprises and enriching and expanding related research.

The Co-Inhibiting Effect of Managerial Myopia on ESG Performance-Based Green Investment and Continuous Innovation

Under the new pattern of “double carbon” development, good ESG performance is the best way to promote the sustainable development of enterprises, and ESG investment strategies are directly affected by the strategic vision of managers. Based on the upper echelons theory and stakeholder theory, this paper selected Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022 as samples to empirically analyze the impact of managerial myopia on corporate ESG performance. The results show that managerial myopia significantly inhibits corporate ESG performance, mainly by inhibiting corporate green investment and green innovation sustainability. Furthermore, for state-owned enterprises (SOE), heavy polluting enterprises (HPE), and non-high-tech enterprises, the inhibitory effect of manager myopia on ESG performance is stronger. When the enterprise is in the growth stage, the above inhibition effect is more severe. For external governance, the greater the analyst attention and public environmental attention are, the more conducive they are to alleviating the restraining effect of managerial myopia on enterprise ESG performance. Therefore, effectively improving the cognition level of managers with regard to long- versus short-term profitability and strengthening external supervision are important measures for comprehensively optimizing ESG performance.

Does improved credit access promote pollution reduction? The role of bank proximity

The impact of the spatial proximity between banks and enterprises on industrial pollution reduction remains underexplored, particularly in areas with limited credit access. Previous studies have focused on the influence of environmental regulations and green credit initiatives; however, the significance of the financial sector's spatial distribution remains uninvestigated. Our research develops a model illustrating that improved credit access facilitates greater investment in emission reduction, leading to more effective pollution control as financing becomes more accessible. Using data from China's bank branch expansion, we empirically show that closer proximity between banks and enterprises significantly enhances pollution mitigation efforts. Our findings reveal that a more accessible banking network eases credit constraints and promotes eco-friendly practices without impeding economic growth, particularly by aiding less efficient and more polluting enterprises. This study sheds light on the crucial role of financial accessibility in advancing environmental performance and provides valuable insights for policymakers and financial strategists.

“Crowding Out” or “Reservoir Effect”? Unraveling the Impact of Financialization on Green Innovation in Heavy Polluting Enterprises: Evidence from China’s Listed Companies

In the era of green transformation and sustainable development, green innovation has become a key force driving the greenization of the economy and society, as well as achieving global sustainable development goals. This study aims to investigate the impact of financialization on green innovation in heavy polluting enterprises, a sector where enhancing green innovation capabilities is crucial for both industry transformation and sustained economic growth. As the financialization of enterprises deepens, its effects on green innovation become increasingly significant. Based on data from 667 listed companies in China, we explore the mechanisms through which financialization influences green innovation. Our findings reveal that financialization has both a potential “reservoir” effect, which provides financial support for green innovation, and a significant “crowding out” effect, with the latter outweighing the former, thereby suppressing investment in green innovation. Further analysis indicates that these effects exhibit significant heterogeneity across different property rights, regions, and corporate debt-to-asset ratios. Additionally, the short-term debt-paying ability of enterprises and market competitiveness play important regulatory and threshold roles in this relationship. This study not only provides a new perspective for understanding the relationship between the financialization of heavy polluting enterprises and green innovation but also offers valuable insights for promoting the coordinated development of both and addressing the challenges of green innovation.

Analysis of Influencing Factors of Green M&A on the Value of Heavy Polluting Enterprises

This paper explores the impact of green mergers and acquisitions on the value of heavily polluting enterprises, focusing on environmental disclosure and green innovation. Through literature review and empirical analysis, the study finds that green mergers and acquisitions not only significantly enhance companies' environmental governance but also effectively promote long-term value growth. Specifically, improvements in environmental disclosure enhance market recognition, while green innovation brings new profit opportunities and market competitiveness to enterprises. This research provides theoretical and empirical support for understanding the role of green mergers and acquisitions in corporate sustainable development.

Green Credit Policy and asset-debt maturity mismatch in highly polluting enterprises: Evidence from China

China’s Green Credit Policy (GCP) promotes environmentally sustainable practices, which are crucial for ecological responsibility. Despite its importance, the policy’s impact on asset-debt maturity mismatches—a key determinant of financial stability—has not been systematically examined. This research scrutinizes the consequences of the Green Credit Guidelines on asset-debt maturity mismatches in China’s heavily polluting enterprises, employing a difference-in-differences (DID) methodology. An analysis of data from Chinese-listed companies from 2009 to 2017 reveals that the implementation of the guidelines has precipitated a marked shift towards short-term debt as a financing mechanism for long-term assets, particularly noticeable in state-owned and large-scale enterprises. The effects intensify in regions with stringent environmental regulations and companies possessing significant collateral. Moreover, the guidelines amplify financial constraints and decrease long-term debts, prompting firms to strategically embrace greater asset-debt maturity mismatches in response to more rigorous financial conditions. Our findings indicate that although the GCP is designed to promote eco-friendly practices, it inadvertently affects corporate financial decisions, underscoring the complex relationship between environmental policy and financial strategy. This study enhances the understanding of the financial repercussions of environmental policies on corporate actions, offering valuable perspectives to regulators and financial institutions.

New media surveillance, environmental information uncertainty and corporate environmental information disclosure

This paper selects A-share heavy polluting enterprises in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen cities from 2009 to 2022. The following conclusions are obtained from the empirical evidence: new media monitoring can encourage enterprises to disclose information. Environmental information uncertainty can encourage enterprises to disclose information. The positive effect of environmental information uncertainty on environmental information disclosure is more significant for firms with poorer environmental performance than those with better environmental performance. The effect of the new media monitoring on environmental information disclosure of non-state-owned enterprises is more significant when other information is held constant.

Research on the path of green technology innovation driven by the Environmental Protection Tax Law: Based on data of heavy polluting enterprises.

Environmental Protection Tax Law (EPTL) is a compulsory environmental regulation measure adopted by China to deal with environmental problems. However, with the advancement of implementation, the EPTL produces a dissimilation effect and damages the realization of the Porter hypothesis effect. The study examines the dissimilation effect of green technology innovation regulated by the EPTL using sample data from heavy pollution firms in China. According to the empirical test results: (1) the coordination between levies and administrations, differential tax rate setting, tax information sharing, definition of the scope of levy and administration, tax declaration counseling, and tax rate level verification produce the dissimilation effect; (2) the Porter hypothesis effect of the EPTL is the most significant in medium-sized enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises. By constructing the research model group of dissimilation effect, this study analyzes the application of environmental regulation in China's social and economic background, thus providing a reference for developing of the green economy.

Can green credit policy with dual-carbon targets make highly polluting enterprises “green”: A micro-analysis of total factor productivity growth

Reducing carbon emissions from highly polluting enterprises is crucial to meeting the world's overall carbon emission reduction targets. Green credit policy can be effective in guiding enterprises to reduce their carbon emissions and is essential to achieving the dual-carbon targets. This study uses micro-data from a 2017–2022 follow-up survey of industrial enterprises in China and a quasi-natural experiment to evaluate whether green credit policy aligned with the dual-carbon targets enable highly polluting enterprises to become “green” by reducing emissions. The results show that green credit policy can lead highly polluting enterprises to significantly reduce carbon emissions, and total factor productivity (TFP) growth plays an intermediary role in this transition. The different impact of green credit policy on TFP may impede the greening process for highly polluting enterprises, with this hindering effect exhibiting scale heterogeneity. This study offers empirical evidence for evaluating green credit policy aligned with China's dual-carbon target and provide insights into leveraging green credit policy to advance this process.

Impact of the Belt and Road initiative on enterprise green transformation

The Belt and Road initiative (BRI) has created a peaceful and stable surrounding environment for green transformation of enterprises. The data from Chinese listed enterprises from 2010 to 2022 were used, this article overcomes the limitations of the traditional causal inference model, and uses the dual machine learning model to explore the influence of the BRI on enterprises green transformation. Study shows that the BRI can greatly boost enterprises green transformation, and multiple robustness tests have verified its rationality. The mechanism test reveals that BRI promotes green transformation through three channels: promoting green technology spillovers, optimizing enterprise resource allocation and enhancing green governance capabilities. The BRI contributes more to fostering the green transformation of private enterprises, non-high polluting enterprises and large-scale enterprises according to heterogeneity tests. Further analysis found that the BRI had no obvious impact on enterprise performance, and it promoted enterprises to fulfill their ESG responsibilities.

Positive impacts of green finance on environmental protection investment: Evidence from green finance reform and innovations pilot zone

After long-term development, the global economic level has improved significantly, but environmental issues generated by early extensive development seriously threaten the survival of human beings. China, in particular, urgently needs to promote sustainable development through green finance policies. For this reason, this paper regards the 2017 eight pilot zones in five provinces for green finance reform and innovations (GFRIs) as a quasi-natural experiment, and explores whether it can encourage investment in environmental protection in heavily polluting enterprises by using difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) model. The paper finds that: First, GFRIs can bolster investment in environmental protection in heavy polluting enterprises. The results remain consistent after several robustness checks, covering the placebo test, PSM-DID test and so on. Second, mechanism tests find that the policy promotes environmental protection investment by alleviating financing constraints and cutting financing costs. Third, heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotion effect of GFRIs on environmental protection investment is more pronounced for provinces with higher percentages of secondary industry GDP, large-scale enterprises, and enterprises with better ESG management. This paper demonstrates the beneficial influence of GFRIs on promoting the transformation of heavy polluting enterprises and provides suggestions for the improvement of such policies.

Is the green innovation under the pressure of new environmental protection law of PRC substantive green innovation

China's economy is developing rapidly, and the environmental pressure brought by it has attracted much attention. New amendment comes amid growing emphasis on “green hills and clear waters “. From the new perspective of whether the new Environmental Protection Law plays a practical role in the capital market, this paper divides green innovation behavior to study the impact of the new Environmental Protection Law (EPL) pressure on green innovation of heavily polluting enterprises. And it takes the change of environmental information through enterprise green innovation as a point of penetration to study that under the pressure of EPL, the green innovation of heavy pollution enterprises become substantive green innovation or instrumental green innovation. Based on the green innovation data from 2012 to 2016, this paper uses multiple regression model and generalized least square method to analyze the data, and finds that the green innovation of heavy polluting enterprises increased significantly under the pressure of the new EPL; after the green innovation, the environmental information disclosure of these enterprises did not significantly increase, indicating that the green innovation under the pressure of the EPL is not substantive green innovation, it is an instrumental green innovation in response to the law.

The impact of government subsidies on green innovation performance in new energy enterprises: A digital transformation perspective

This paper selects data from A-share listed companies in China's new energy industry from 2007 to 2021 and constructs a fixed-effects negative binomial regression model to examine the impact of government subsidies on corporate green innovation performance and its mechanism. It further investigates the moderating effects of digital transformation and environmental regulation. The research finds that government subsidies significantly enhance corporate green innovation performance, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. Both corporate digital transformation and environmental regulation amplify the positive effect of government subsidies on green innovation performance. Meanwhile, the impact of government subsidies on green innovation performance varies with the nature of corporate ownership, industry characteristics, and company size. In non-state-owned, high-tech, and non-heavy pollution enterprises, the enhancing effect of government subsidies on green innovation performance is more pronounced. Mechanism tests show that government subsidies improve corporate innovation performance by enhancing technological integration capability, easing financing constraints, and increasing innovation input capacity. This paper provides new evidence on the factors influencing green innovation performance in new energy enterprises, offering significant insights into how government subsidies enhance green innovation performance in the new energy sector.