The dual effects of heterogeneous environmental regulation on the technological innovation of Chinese steel enterprises-Based on a high-dimensional fixed effects model

With the deterioration of China's ecological environment, technological innovation (TI) has become an important method of green transformation and upgrading Chinese steel enterprises (CSEs) under the constraint of environmental regulation (ER). Based on environmental protection panel data of 86 CSEs from 2005 to 2014, this paper first analyzes the direct effects of heterogeneous environmental regulation (HER) on TI and then studies the indirect effects of HER on TI through factors such as enterprise size, human capital, enterprise profit margin and executive environmental awareness. Based on a high-dimensional fixed effects model, the results show that (1) command-control environmental regulation (CCER) and voluntary environmental regulation (VER) have direct and positive effects on the TI of CSEs, while market-incentive environmental regulation (MIER) does not; and (2) the indirect effect of human capital is positively regulated by CCER and VER and that of enterprise size is negatively regulated by MIER, while all of the types of HER regulate the negative indirect effect of profit margin and the positive indirect effect of executive environmental awareness. It is necessary that combined and unified policy tools be implemented in the iron and steel industry (ISI) nationwide to coordinate the effects of HER.

Automated summary

This study examines the impact of environmental regulation on technological innovation in Chinese steel enterprises. It finds that command-control and voluntary environmental regulations have a positive direct effect on technological innovation, while market-incentive environmental regulation does not. Additionally, different types of environmental regulations also impact the indirect effects of factors such as human capital, enterprise size, profit margin, and executive environmental awareness.