Environmental Regulation,Green Innovation And Corporate Performance ——Based On Heavily Polluting Industries Empirical Research On Listed Companies

With the increasingly prominent environmental problems,the Chinese government attaches great importance to environmental regulation for heavy polluting enterprises.The traditional view holds that in the face of environmental regulation,enterprises will increase investment in environmental protection,reduce investment in other aspects and increase costs,thus causing a certain impact on corporate performance.However,some scholars hold objections that environmental regulation may stimulate green technology innovation of enterprises,and in the long run,it will improve corporate performance.Since the new crown epidemic may have an impact on this study,the data in 2020 and 2021 are excluded for this purpose.Considering the availability of data,this paper selects 564 listed companies with heavy pollution from 2015 to 2019 as the research object for analysis and research.At the same time,based on the theory of environmental regulation and Porter’s hypothesis,it studies the relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise performance.Combining the two theories of Schumpeter’s innovation theory and the mediation effect theory,and introducing the mediating variable of environmental innovation according to the previous research,a theoretical framework of environmental regulation-green innovation-enterprise performance is constructed,and the three are empirically tested.The relationship between the two,and the related heterogeneity test was carried out.Based on theoretical analysis and empirical test,taking listed companies in heavy polluting industries as the research object,the following conclusions can be drawn:（1）The impact of environmental regulation on the short-term performance of enterprises is significantly negative,but has a significant positive impact on the long-term performance of enterprises expressed by Tobin’s Q;（2）Environmental regulation has a promoting effect on green innovation expressed by the number of green patent applications;（3）Environmental regulation promotes long-term performance of enterprises by promoting green innovation,but in the short term,environmental regulations hinder a company’s short-term performance by hindering green innovation.Green innovation has played a partial mediating role;（4）Further research on the sub-samples finds that: according to the nature of property rights,the promotion effect of the long-term performance of state-owned enterprises in eastern China is more significant;according to the differences of regional nature,the positive effect of environmental regulation on the long-term performance of enterprises in the heavily polluting industries in the central and western regions is more significant.From the above conclusion through the research on the relationship among environmental regulation,green innovation and corporate performance in heavy polluting industries,and the relationship among the three,it not only provides a theoretical basis for the transformation and upgrading of enterprises in heavily polluting industries,but also provides a reference for government decision-making.In this dimension,corresponding policies and countermeasures are proposed:（1）At the government level,improve environmental regulation standards and gradually refine environmental regulation policies;formulate environmental regulation policies "according to local conditions";encourage green innovation and establish diversified Environmental protection subsidy policy.（2）At the enterprise level,proceed from long-term goals and make appropriate changes based on the enterprise itself;attach importance to green innovation and increase investment in green innovation research and development.