The Impact Of Environmental Regulation On The Performance Of Traditional Energy Enterprises

China’s extensive development model of "high pollution emission,high capital input,high resource consumption" has led to a series of inevitable excessive consumption of resources,increasingly serious pollution and other potential threats,resulting in the imbalance between economic development and ecological protection.With the increasingly strict environmental regulations,the future development trend of traditional energy enterprises is bound to shift from the pursuit of maximization of economic benefits to the high quality development of both economic and environmental benefits.However,green production needs to pay a lot of costs.Whether strict environmental regulation can positively improve the economic and environmental performance of traditional energy enterprises,whether green technology innovation plays an effective conduction role,and whether "Porter hypothesis" is applicable to Chinese traditional energy enterprises under the requirements of low-carbon economy needs to be further tested empirically.Based on the externality theory,Schumpeter innovation theory,Porter hypothesis and mediation effect theory,this paper analyzes the relationship between the three from the perspective of micro enterprises and puts forward the research hypothesis.Using the relevant data of 131 selected Chinese A-share traditional energy listed enterprises from 2012 to 2020,this paper makes an empirical test.The direct impact of government environmental regulation on the performance of traditional energy enterprises and the indirect impact on the performance of enterprises through the intermediary effect of green technology innovation are deeply explored.In addition,the differences are analyzed according to the region of enterprises,property rights nature and environmental regulation means.Through theoretical analysis and empirical research,the conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)Environmental regulation has a significant negative impact on the economic performance of traditional energy enterprises and a significant positive impact on their environmental performance.(2)Environmental regulation indirectly affects the economic and environmental performance of enterprises by inhibiting green technology innovation,that is,green technology innovation plays a partial mediating role in the impact of environmental regulation on the economic and environmental performance of traditional energy enterprises,but Porter hypothesis is not applicable in the traditional energy industry.Further research shows that:(3)Environmental regulation has a more obvious inhibitory effect on the economic performance of traditional energy enterprises in central and western regions,and a more obvious enhancement effect on the environmental performance of traditional energy enterprises in eastern regions;The inhibition effect of environmental regulation on green technology innovation of traditional energy enterprises in the eastern region is more significant,and the two intermediary effects of green technology innovation are more significant in the eastern region.(4)Environmental regulation has a more significant negative impact on the economic performance of state-owned traditional energy enterprises and a more significant effect on the improvement of environmental performance of non-state-owned traditional energy enterprises;Environmental regulation has a significant inhibitory effect on the green technology innovation of state-owned traditional energy enterprises,and the intermediary effect of green technology innovation is more significant in the impact of environmental regulation on the economic performance of state-owned traditional energy enterprises.(5)Command-controlled environmental regulation has a significant impact on the economic performance and environmental performance of traditional energy enterprises,market incentive environmental regulation only has a significant effect on the environmental performance of enterprises,and public participation environmental regulation has a significant impact on the green technology innovation of traditional energy enterprises.Accordingly,this paper provides countermeasures and suggestions for traditional energy enterprises to cultivate green environmental protection awareness and improve their comprehensive performance,as well as policy suggestions for the government to effectively formulate environmental regulation policies and improve supporting services for green technology innovation.