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There is no conclusive whether environmental regulation is a constraint or an incentive to the production development. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the non-linear effects of environmental regulations on economic outcomes from the combined perspective of labor productivity and environmental regulation costs.

Under the assumption of maximizing the utility of residents and maximizing the profit of firms, this research introduces a mathematical model that incorporates the promotion effect of environmental regulations on labor productivity and the costs of environmental regulations. On this basis, the authors analyze the non-linear relationship between environmental regulations and economic outcomes theoretically. This paper also conducts an empirical test using the panel data of 28 provinces in China from 1998 to 2015 through threshold regression.

Theoretical analysis shows that environmental regulations impose both the environmental regulation cost effect and the compensation effect on the labor productivity enhancement. The ultimate impact of environmental regulation on economic outcomes depends on the comparison of these two effects. Under the different intensities of environmental regulation, the magnitude of these two effects may not be equal. The empirical results further confirm the nonlinear relationship between environmental regulations and economic outcomes.

Previous studies have neglected the role of environmental regulations in improving labor productivity. This work’s main contribution is to propose a novel framework to study the non-linear relationship between environmental regulation and the growth of economic outcomes from perspective of labor productivity and the costs of environmental regulations.

While implementing green innovation-driven strategies when facing growing grim environmental problems and the realistic demands of achieving high-quality development is increasingly urgent, changing abruptly is inevitably detrimental to the smooth functioning of social and economic development. Restrained by resources, innovation-driven strategy is a huge strategy for an organization to shift from traditional technological innovation to green innovation. Supports and implementation in green technology investment would necessarily crowd out other business investment and lead to reduction of innovation outputs and mount of financial uncertainty. Under the guidance of harmonious balance, the equilibrium allocation between green research and non-green counterpart is badly needed to be addressed for decision-makers inside and outside the organizations. The differentiated inputs of them would lead to different effects on organizational performance in practice.

The authors first conducted a Hausman test on green research intensity (GRI) and innovation performance, economic performance, social performance, and environmental performance, respectively. Adopting the fixed effects model for estimation seems accurate, if there is no significant heteroscedasticity shown in the BP test. The authors then adopted the least square dummy variable method to handle individual heterogeneity (Xia et al., 2020). After controlling the industry effect and time effect simultaneously, the results were consistent with that of fixed effects model, thereby eliminating the impact of heteroscedasticity.

The authors construct a multi-dimensional performance system—innovation performance, economic performance, social performance, and environmental performance—to probe into the influence of GRI from the resource-based view and allocation theory. Different performance does not benefit equally from increasing the intensity of green research. Performance increase may squeeze out the quantity of total innovation but can compensate quality for knowledge spillovers of green technology. The organization's growth and long-term value may be beneficial from the increase, but not the short-term financial performance. While the relationship between GRI and social performance has the characteristic of reverse U-curve, there has to be some scale of green research to gain considerable and nonlinear environmental performance. Low level of green research may increase pollution until green research has cross over the inflection point. These relationships are intensely moderated by the environmental regulation.

Because of the focus of this study is on the organizational performance of green research, the analysis comes with some limitations that should be addressed in future research. Data were inter-professional, with large enterprises and small businesses innovating green technology at the same time. Though the hypotheses presented here were grounded in existing theoretical rationale, the generality of this study cannot be assumed. Multi-performance of green activities in small- and medium-sized businesses should be further explored. Additionally, concrete index of the corresponding evaluation system constructed here contribute more to practical activities of green innovation. Refinement of synergy performance index is the task for future work. Further, grounded in Chinese context, the authors' results could be compared with other scenario with institutional heterogeneity to provide detailed evidences for institutional theory. Future studies could also move forward to longitudinal case study to delicately investigate the performance differentiation of green research when in different development stage.

First, what and how the authors do is novel as the authors use listed Chinese manufacturing companies to probe into the complex relationship between GRI and multiple performance rather than discussing the performance of green innovation input from a single perspective merely. Second, the authors systematically define the performance as economic performance, environmental performance, social performance and innovation performance in depth, which consider adequately the tangible and intangible value as well as internal and external benefits of green research. And finally, in the context of environmental regulation, the study discusses the differentiation of the increase of green research intensity from the perspective of resource constraints, providing reference for optimizing the resource allocation in green and non-green research and solving the decoupling between earnest social appeal and sluggish or reluctant green behaviors.

The issue of environmental regulation and productivity has received increasing attention among academics, but little research has focused on Chinese firms despite the serious state of pollution in China. This study aimed to fill that gap. Analyzing a sample of firms from 12 Chinese cities, we found that environmental regulation could improve firm productivity, but the responses to environmental regulation differed across industry sectors, firm sizes, and locations. In this paper, we discuss the implications of these responses toward the environmental policy in China.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on pollution emissions and how environmental regulation affects this relationship.

In the empirical research, the authors selected panel data for 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2019 as samples. First, the authors used the instrumental variable method to verify the existence of the above hypotheses in China. Then, the authors analyzed the moderating effect of different types of environmental regulations on the environmental effects of FDI. Next, in further discussion, the authors analyzed the difference between the environmental effect and the moderating effect in different time periods and regions, respectively. Finally, the authors discussed whether the different intensities of environmental regulations lead to the transfer effect of FDI in choosing investment destinations.

The result shows that FDI can help reduce pollution emissions and create a “pollution halo” effect, which is enhanced by command-and-control regulation but suppressed by market-based incentives. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party has weakened the pollution halo effect of FDI, while the environmental effect of FDI in the eastern region is not significant, but in the middle and western regions, there is a significant pollution halo effect and a positive moderating effect of environmental regulations. Finally, further analysis reveals that FDI has a transfer effect under command-and-control environmental regulations.

First, the main purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between FDI and pollution emissions from the perspective of heterogeneous environmental regulation. Therefore, there is no detailed discussion on their effect mechanism of them. Second, limited by data, the authors adopt the single index to measure the stringency index of command-and-control and market-based incentive environmental regulations in China. The single index may not be able to fully reflect the intensity of regional environmental regulation, so the construction of a composite indicator is necessary. These shortcomings are the focus of the authors' future research.

Under the guidance of high-quality development, the conclusions above can provide reference for adjusting FDI policies and improving environmental regulation policies.

The innovations in this paper can be summarized as the following four dimensions: First, the authors use the instrumental variable (IV) method to address endogeneity in the relationship between FDI and pollution emission, which can further ensure the robustness of the research results and increases the credibility of the paper. Second, the authors distinguish between two types of environmental regulations to investigate their moderating effect on the environmental impact of FDI. Third, the authors consider the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of both the environmental effects of FDI and the moderating effect of regulation. Last, the authors analyze the spatial spillover of environmental regulation through the study of the transfer effect.

Drawing on the literature of eco-innovation and institutional theory, this research aims to answer two fundamental questions: Does eco-innovation improve or harm firm value in emerging markets? and How institutional environments moderate the relationship between eco-innovation and firm value? We explicate the regulatory, normative and cognitive pillars of institutions, manifested as regulation intensity, environmental agency pressure and public pressure, respectively.

For this study, a cross-sectional panel data set was assembled from multiple archival sources, including data coded from the corporate annual reports and social responsibility reports, statistical yearbooks, China Stock Market Financial Database (CSMAR) and other secondary sources. A hierarchical regression method was used to test the hypotheses. The data comprised 88 firms sampled over four years. The model using feasible generalized least squares (FGLSs) to control heteroscedasticity in errors due to unobserved heterogeneity was estimated.

Empirical findings from a data set compiled from multiple archival sources reveal that both eco-product and eco-process innovation negatively relate to firm value. The interactions between eco-innovation and regulation intensity, environmental agency pressure and public pressure are positively related to firm value.

First, this study extends the literature of eco-innovation by investigating the impact of eco-innovation on firm value. Contrary to the conventional anecdotal evidence of the beneficial effect of eco-innovation, it was found that eco-innovation relates negatively to firm value. Second, this study develops and tests an institutional contingent view of eco-innovation by accounting for the moderating role of regulatory, normative and cognitive pressures.

The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between environmental regulations and green total factor productivity (GTFP) of China's logistics industry. The high-factor input, high-energy consumption, and high-pollution emissions model of the logistics industry developed within China faces challenges from severe resource and environmental constraints. It is generally believed that environmental regulations effectively restrain pollution emissions and help protect the environment.

The authors employ the undesirable slack-based Malmquist Luenberger model to calculate the GTFP across the provincial logistics industry and use the mediation effect model and threshold effect model to explore the effects and mechanics of environmental transmission regulations on the GTFP.

The main results show significant regional differences in the GTFP of logistics industry across China. In the transmission path of the impact of environmental regulations on the GTFP, regional innovation capabilities have mediation effects. Regional innovation capacities have a masking effect on the transmission path of environmental regulations on accumulated technical efficiency changes (AEC) and accumulated technical changes (ATC). The threshold effect test results show a dual-threshold effect between environmental regulations and the GTFP, with environmental regulations as threshold variable. Furthermore, the impact of regional innovation capability on the GTFP has a dual-threshold effect, with environmental regulation as threshold variable.

First, it is advisable to plan the environmental regulation policy system thoroughly and add supporting measures to ensure the efficiency and smooth implementation of the nation's environmental policies. Second, it is important to further understand the critical role of innovation capability in improving the GTFP. Third, there is an urgent need to standardize the operating behavior and market order of the leading players in the logistics market and to improve the operational efficiency of logistics enterprises.

So far, a systematical study researched on effect of environmental regulation on the GTFP in logistics industry was not published. This study can provide experience for the high-quality development of the logistics industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of energy technological innovation on carbon emissions in China from 2001 to 2016.

Conditional mean (CM) methods are first applied to implement our investigation. Then, considering the tremendous heterogeneity in China, quantile regression is further employed to comprehensively investigate the potential heterogeneous effect between energy technological innovation and carbon emission intensity.

The results suggest that renewable energy technological innovation has a significantly positive effect on carbon emission intensity in lower quantile areas and a negative effect in higher quantile areas. Contrarily, fossil energy technological innovation exerts a negative correlation with carbon emission intensity in lower quantile areas and a positive effect on carbon emission intensity in higher quantiles areas.

Considering that energy consumption is the main source of CO₂ emissions, it is of great importance to study the impact of energy technological innovation on carbon emissions. However, the previous studies mainly focus on the impact of integrated technological innovation on carbon emissions, ignoring the impact of energy technological innovation on carbon emissions mitigation. To fill this gap, we construct an extended STIRPAT model to examine the effects of renewable energy technological innovation and fossil energy technological innovation on carbon emissions in this paper. The results can provide a reference for the government to formulate carbon mitigation policies.

In this study, the authors examine the relationships between market-based regulations and corporate carbon disclosure and carbon performance. The authors also investigate whether these relationships vary across emission-intensive and non-emission intensive industries.

The study sample consists of the world's 500 largest companies across most major industries over a recent five-year period. Country-specific random effect multiple regression analysis is used to test empirical models that predict relationships between market-based regulations and carbon disclosure and carbon performance.

Results indicate that market-based regulations significantly and positively affect corporate carbon performance. However, market-based regulations do not significantly affect corporate carbon disclosure. This study also finds that the association between regulatory pressures and carbon disclosure and carbon performance varies across emission-intensive and non-emission-intensive industries.

The findings of this study have key implications for policymakers, practitioners and future researchers in terms of understanding the factors that drive businesses to increase their carbon performance and disclosure. The study sample consists of only large firms, and future researchers can undertake similar studies with small and medium-sized firms.

The results of this study are expected to help business managers to identify the benefits of adopting market-based regulations. Regulators can use this study’s results to evaluate if market-based regulations effectively improve corporate carbon performance and disclosure. Furthermore, stakeholders may use this study to evaluate and improve their businesses' reporting of carbon disclosure and performance.

In contrast to current literature that has used command and control regulations as a proxy for regulation, this study uses market-based regulations as a proxy for climate change regulations. In addition, this study uses a more comprehensive measure of carbon disclosure and carbon performance compared to the previous studies. It also uses global multi-sector data from carbon disclosure project (CDP) in contrast to most current studies that use national data from annual reports of sample firms of specific sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between formal environmental regulation (FER) and informal environmental regulation (IER), technological innovation and employment.

This paper uses data from the 30 provinces of China during 2003–2015. The impacts of formal and IER and technological innovation on employment are estimated by generalized least squares, and the eastern region of China is analyzed separately.

First, both formal and IERs have different degrees of significant impact on employment, and the relationship is not a simple linear. FER has an inverted U-shaped relationship with employment, but IER has a U-shaped relationship. However, in the test including technological innovation, the results of the national sample and the eastern sample are different. In the eastern sample, the relationship between informal regulation and employment has an inverted U-shaped curve. Second, the results of model 3 and model 6 show that technological innovation has a significant negative effect on employment both in the national and the eastern region sample.

This paper puts forward corresponding policy implications: first, in designing environmental regulations, it is necessary to consider not only the stringency but also the type of regulation. Second, environmental regulations need to be differentiated by region. Finally, when designing environmental regulations, it is necessary to consider more flexible employment policies that are contingent on the stringency of regulations, in order to prevent employment decline due to technological innovations.

The conclusions about the influence of environmental regulation on employment reached are not consistent in China. Most existing research studies seldom consider environmental regulations into categories and focus only on the whole environmental regulation. This paper pays attention to the influences of different types of environmental regulations on employment. It analyzes the eastern region separately to explore whether there is a difference in the effects of environmental regulations. Furthermore, this considers the effect of technological innovation as a mediator.

Existing studies have shown that all kinds of audit risks greatly affect audit pricing for accounting firms. However, it is still unclear whether environmental risks caused by environmental violations lead to a high audit fee. This study aims to investigate whether accounting firms raise audit fees after client firms have violated environmental regulations or have been punished for such violations.

This study selects listed firms with environmental violations between 1994 and 2018 as the treatment sample and match the treatment group with a control group of firms from the same industry, of similar asset size and with no environmental violations for the same time period. Then, this study constructs a difference-in-difference (DID) model to explore the impact of firm environmental violations (or punishment for environmental violations) on the audit pricing.

This study finds that accounting firms tend to raise audit fees after client firms have violated environmental regulations or have been punished for such violations, and this increasing effect is different due to environmental regulation intensity, regional span and internal control defects. Further evidences show that environmental violations influence audit fees through financial restatement, whereas environmental punishments impact audit fees through earnings management and risk-taking.

This study enriches the literature on determining factors of audit fees and economic consequences of environmental violations and provides empirical supports to understand the pricing behavior of accounting firms.