Research On The Impact Of Environmental Regulation Intensity On Corporate Green Investment

Currently,China’s economy is experiencing "leapfrog" growth,but environmental issues are often overlooked while the economy is growing.The enterprise itself is the main driver of national economic growth,and while it promotes China’s economic growth,it also has a certain degree of negative impact on the environment.Among various enterprises,listed companies in heavily polluting industries are one of the main sources of environmental pollution,and they need to actively fulfill their social responsibilities for green environmental protection.At present,the Chinese government has formulated many new measures and policies aimed at promoting sustainable development and reducing ecological risks.Therefore,what degree of environmental regulation should the government adopt to better match the corporate responsibility for green environmental protection,and what changes will occur in corporate green investment behavior when facing environmental regulatory measures of different degrees? Solving these problems has certain theoretical and practical significance.This thesis collects environmental information publicly disclosed by listed companies in heavily polluting industries from 2011 to 2021,including green investment amounts and green information disclosure levels,as well as relevant data on environmental regulation in various provinces and cities.Firstly,from the five aspects of urban emission intensity,urban greening degree,urban pollution control investment,urban environmental management investment,and residents’ environmental awareness,the comprehensive index system is constructed using the entropy method to measure the intensity of environmental regulation and analyze it.Then,starting from the longitudinal and horizontal dimensions,statistical analysis is conducted on the green investment of enterprises in heavily polluting industries,and the role of environmental regulation intensity in green investment is empirically studied to test its threshold effect.Then,the threshold effect is tested and regressed according to the grouping of three regions: East,Central,and West.Finally,further testing and regression analysis is performed according to the grouping of enterprise ownership types.The empirical results draw the following conclusions:(1)The intensity of environmental regulation varies among different provinces and regions.The environmental regulation intensity in the eastern region is the highest,but it has an overall upward trend over time.(2)The overall green information disclosure level of heavily polluting enterprises has an upward trend over time,and the number of heavily polluting enterprises and the total amount of green investment in the eastern region far exceed those in the central and western regions.(3)There is a "U"-shaped relationship between the intensity of environmental regulation and the green investment of heavily polluting enterprises.When using the regional economic level as the threshold variable,it still shows a "U"-shaped relationship.(4)Using the regional economic level and enterprise size as threshold variables,the relationship between the intensity of environmental regulation in the three regions of the East,Central,and West and enterprise green investment is different.In general,there is a positive correlation between the environmental regulation intensity and the green investment in the eastern and central regions,while there is a negative correlation in the western region.(5)When using the intensity of environmental regulation as the threshold variable,there is a positive correlation between the environmental regulation intensity and green investment for both state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises.When using the regional economic level as the threshold variable,the environmental regulation intensity has a negative correlation with green investment for state-owned enterprises,while it has no impact on non-state-owned enterprises.