Research on the Effect of Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions under the Background of "Double Carbon"

(1) Background: In light of the global economy's digitalization and the "double carbon" target constraint, the digital economy is essential to fostering scientific and technological innovation, green growth, and lowering energy emissions. (2) Methods: This paper measures the digital economic index and carbon emission intensity and analyzes their characteristics in spatial and temporal dimensions using 282 Chinese urban panel data by improving various statistical methods of panel data, such as the entropy method, fixed effect model, multi-period DID model, moderating effect model and intermediary effect model. This paper examines the extent and mechanism of the digital economy's impact on urban carbon emissions. (3) Results: During the sample period, the overall trend of the digital economy in China was one of constant growth, showing an unbalanced distribution pattern of "high in the eastern regions, lower in the central regions and lowest in the western regions" in the spatial dimension. Carbon emissions can be significantly decreased by the digital economy, which has a dynamic effect and an inverted U-shaped trend in its influence. The digital economy plays a significant role in reducing carbon emissions through the rational layout of industrial structures. The transmission mechanisms for the digital economy's goal of reducing carbon emissions include environmental regulation and green technology innovation. (4) Conclusion: The research findings provide a reference for multiple decision makers to better formulate carbon emission policies and realize carbon emission decrease in the digital economy.

The Relationship between Environmental Regulation, Green-Technology Innovation and Green Total-Factor Productivity-Evidence from 279 Cities in China

This paper employs the SBM-DDF method to measure the index of green total-factor productivity (GTFP), based on the panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China from 2007 to 2019, and constructs a spatial Durbin model (SDM) and a threshold effect to empirically test the effects of dual environmental-regulations and green technological innovation on GTFP. The results are as follows: (1) the SDM supports a nonlinear contribution of dual environmental-regulations spillover to GTFP. The relationship between formal environmental-regulation and GTFP is an inverted U-shape, while a U-shaped nonlinear relationship is found between informal environmental regulation and GTFP. (2) Green technology innovation has a significant negative moderating effect on the process of dual environmental-regulations affecting GTFP in local regions, but a positive moderating effect on informal environmental regulation in neighboring regions. (3) There is a significant green technology innovation threshold effect of dual environmental-regulations affecting GTFP. Specifically, the promotion effect of dual environmental-regulations on GFFP gradually increases as the level of green technology innovation increases.

The Mixed Impact of Environmental Regulations and External Financing Constraints on Green Technological Innovation of Enterprise

Green technological innovation is an important force for high-quality economic development and high-level ecological environment protection. Environmental regulation and market financing are important factors affecting enterprise green technological innovation, while the relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise green technological innovation is most likely to be nonlinear. Additionally, this impact may be moderated by market financing. Based on the data of 2278 manufacturing enterprises in China, this article intends to empirically test the nonlinear relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise green technological innovation. Green technological innovation is divided into green process innovation and green product innovation. Based on this, the analysis of the heterogeneous impact of environmental regulations on different types of green technology innovation is implemented. Moreover, the moderating effect of external financing constraints on the relationship between environmental regulation and green technological innovation is further discussed. It shows that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise green technological innovation. This conclusion will not change due to the types of green technological innovation, while the impact of environmental regulation on enterprise green product innovation is greater than that of green process innovation. In addition, external financing constraints will reduce the impact of environmental regulation on enterprise green technological innovation. The research conclusions have certain reference value for deepening the understanding of green technological innovation and optimizing the relationship between government and market.

Dynamic Game Analysis of Enterprise Green Technology Innovation Ecosystem under Double Environmental Regulation

In the context of China's "double carbon" target, an urgent problem that remains to be solved is how to drive the construction of an enterprise green innovation ecosystem through effective environmental regulations to alleviate the pressure of energy saving and emission reduction. Based on this, we constructed a tripartite evolutionary game model of enterprises, governments and financial institutions, and used the evolutionary game theory and MATLAB simulation to analyze the evolutionary process of the interaction of the subjects of the green technology innovation of enterprises under the dual environmental regulation. The research finds that: (1) Both formal and informal environmental regulations can promote green technology innovation in enterprises, provided that the enforcement is controlled within an appropriate range; (2) Informal environmental regulations are a weaker driver of green technology innovation in firms than formal environmental regulations; (3) Six types of environmental regulation strategies, namely, the "penalty enterprises mechanism", "financial support mechanism", "public supervision mechanism", "punishes financial institutions mechanism", "financial subsidy mechanism" and "carbon tax mechanism", have a decreasing effect on promoting the development of the green technology innovation ecosystem of enterprises; (4) Combining the implementation of a middle-intensity subsidy mechanism, a high-intensity penalty mechanism, a low-intensity public supervision mechanism and a middle-intensity carbon tax mechanism is the optimal strategy combination to encourage collaborative green technology innovation between companies and financial institutions.

Environmental Uncertainty, Environmental Regulation and Enterprises' Green Technological Innovation

This paper examines the impact of environmental uncertainty and environmental regulation on enterprises' green technological innovation, using a panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2005 to 2019 to conduct an empirical study using an OLS model and Poisson regression model. We employ environmental complexity and environmental dynamism to measure environmental uncertainty, and we have the following findings: first, both environmental uncertainty and environmental regulation promote enterprises' green technological innovation, while environmental regulation has positive moderating effects on the relationship between environmental uncertainty and enterprises' green technological innovation; second, environmental complexity positively affects enterprises' green technological innovation, while environmental dynamism has negative effects on enterprises' green technological innovation; third, environmental regulation accentuates the relationship between environmental complexity and green technological innovation, while it weakens the relationship between environmental dynamism and green technological innovation.

Pathway of Green Development of Yangtze River Economics Belt from the Perspective of Green Technological Innovation and Environmental Regulation

The eco-efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2005 to 2019 has been evaluated by the super-efficiency SBM window model, the results of which are taken as the measurement standard for green development. Next, more attempts have been done to figure out the impacts of green technological innovation on the green development in urban clusters of the Yangtze River Economic Belt by a systematic GMM model, further confirming the moderation effect of dual environmental regulations on the relationship between green technological innovation and green development and the heterogeneity in different urban clusters of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Finally, it is a fact that a cascade has been pointed out in green development of the Yangtze River Economic Zone. With an empirical analysis, it has been found that green technological innovation has a positive moderating effect on green development in the downstream regions, and the relationship between green technological innovation and green development is positively affected by the formal environmental regulations in the overall Yangtze River Economic Zone and the midstream region. Meanwhile, informal environmental regulations play a positive role in moderating the links between green technological innovation and green development in the overall Yangtze River Economic Zone, as well as the upstream, midstream and downstream regions. Based on the conclusions of the research, some policy suggestions of a multi-environmental regulation governance system and regional differentiated environmental regulation are given at last.

Labor Costs, Market Environment and Green Technological Innovation: Evidence from High-Pollution Firms

Emerging economies face the challenge of increasing labor costs but also provide an opportunity to promote environmental governance and green development. Based on the perspectives of impetus and capability, the effects of rising labor costs and market environment on green technological innovation are investigated in this study. The empirical studies used the data of high-pollution firms in China from 2009 to 2018. Results demonstrate that rising labor costs deteriorates high-pollution firm performance, while highly competitive industries are affected more than other industries. Meanwhile, the influence of rising labor costs on green technological innovation has a threshold effect which illustrates an “inversely U-shaped” variation trend with the increase of degree of market monopoly. The labor costs will make biggest impact on the green technological innovation in the moderately concentrated market environment. Basing from these results, this study provides the following suggestions for emerging economies’ green development: Take rising labor cost as an opportunity to advance technological progress to the green direction, establish a sound market competition environment, and develop green finance to reduce the financing constraints of green technological innovation.