Study On The Effect Of Environmental Regulation On Enterprise Innovation Behavior And Environmental Performance

The report of the 19 th National Congress in China pointed out that building an ecological civilization is a millennium plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.We should adhere to the policy of energy conservation and environmental protection and implement the most stringent system of ecological environmental protection.Besides,it is necessary to adhere to the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.Under the current grim situation of promoting economic development and protecting the ecological environment,the government has continuously strengthened the intensity of environmental regulation in order to improve the environmental performance of enterprises and promote the sustainable development of economy and environment.Traditional theory holds the view that environmental regulation can adversely affect the innovation behavior of enterprises,and then hinder the effective improvement of enterprise performance.But “Porter Hypothesis” points out that environmental regulation can promote enterprises to carry out innovation activities and increase investment in innovation,thereby improving the environmental and economic performance of enterprises.With the improvement of people's awareness of environmental protection,more and more attention has been paid to environmental regulation,and there are more and more studies on environmental regulation policies by scholars.Firstly,this paper summarizes the domestic and foreign literature research and relevant theoretical basis.Secondly,it analyses the current situation of environmental regulation,enterprise innovation behavior and environmental performance in China.Finally,it puts forward research hypotheses about the relationship among the three variables.It regards “Implementation Plan of Energy Saving and Low Carbon Action for Ten Thousand Enterprises” as an important index to measure environmental regulation,and takes the data of listed companies in A-share heavy polluting industries in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2009 to 2015 as research sample.By means of Differences-in-Differences method and the mediation effect test process,this paper builds a panel data model to examine the impact of the policy on enterprise innovation behavior and environmental performance,and whether enterprise innovation behavior plays a mediating role between environmental regulation and enterprise environmental performance.And then it proposes corresponding countermeasures and suggestions.According to the research,the main conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)As far as the current situation is concerned,in China,environmental regulation system is constantly improving,innovation behavior is increasing but it still needs to be strengthened,and the level of environmental performance needs to be further improved.(2)Environmental regulation helps to improve the environmental performance of enterprises,but it has a certain inhibitory effect on the innovation behavior of enterprises.(3)Enterprise innovation behavior plays an indirect role between environmental regulation and enterprise environmental performance,which is shown as suppression effect.It means that if the enterprise innovation behavior is controlled,the promotion effect of environmental regulation on enterprise environmental performance will be strengthened.Finally,on the basis of the current situation and empirical analysis,this paper puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions from the perspective of government and enterprises,in order to make the environmental regulation policy play a better role,and to further improve the innovation ability and environmental performance of enterprises.