Research On The Impact Of Carbon Emission Trading Policy On Corporate Low-carbon Technology Innovation From Perspective Of Heterogeneity

In response to the increasing climate change,the Chinese government has proposed the strategic goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality based on the inherent requirement of green,low-carbon and high-quality development.Carbon emissions trading is a major institutional innovation to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote green and low-carbon development by using market mechanisms,and is also an important policy tool to promote China’s vision of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.In 2013,China started to pilot carbon emissions trading policies in eight provinces and cities,including Beijing and Shanghai.As an important market-based environmental policy,carbon emissions trading has had an important impact on corporate low-carbon technology innovation since its implementation,but the policy effects are subject to multiple influences of coverage areas,implementation industries,participating individuals and patent types.Therefore,this study provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of carbon emissions trading policy on enterprises’ low-carbon technology innovation and its mechanism based on heterogeneity perspective,which is important for improving the operation mechanism of carbon emissions trading and promoting enterprises’ green and low-carbon transformation.This study treats carbon emissions trading policy as a quasi-natural experiment and adopts a multi-period double difference method to explore the impact of China’s carbon emissions trading policy on firms’ low-carbon technological innovation based on a panel of 25,312 listed Chinese Ashare companies from 2008 to 2020.First,the current status of domestic and international research on carbon trading policy,low-carbon technology innovation,carbon trading policy and low-carbon technology innovation,and related theoretical foundations are reviewed,and the impact of carbon trading on corporate low-carbon technology innovation is explored;second,the differences in policy intensity are explored from the perspective of multiple heterogeneities of regions,industries,individuals and patents;further,the mechanism and paths of carbon trading affecting corporate lowcarbon Secondly,we explore the differences in policy intensity from the perspective of regional,industry,individual and patent heterogeneity;furthermore,we analyze the mechanisms and paths of carbon trading on low-carbon technology innovation,and explore the regulation of carbon trading mechanism on low-carbon technology innovation.The results of the study show that:(1)the carbon emissions trading policy significantly improves the low-carbon technology innovation of enterprises in the pilot areas,and the subsequent robustness test also verifies the credibility of the benchmark results.(2)There is heterogeneity in the impact of carbon emissions trading on firms’ low-carbon technology innovation at the regional,industry,firm and patent levels.At the regional level,the policy effect is more pronounced in regions with high marketization and low emissions;at the industry level,the policy effect is more pronounced in technology-intensive industries and the power industry,while the chemical,steel,and paper industries produce a negative policy effect;at the firm level,carbon emissions trading shows a better policy effect in state-owned enterprises,large enterprises,and mature enterprises;at the patent level,when faced with carbon emissions trading,firms are more,when faced with carbon trading,enterprises are more willing to apply for lowcarbon invention patents.(3)The results of the mechanism test suggest that carbon trading enhances corporate low-carbon technology innovation by reducing corporate financing constraints,improving corporate human capital,strengthening government regulation and increasing corporate environmental protection investment expenditures.(4)The enhancement of low-carbon technology innovation in the pilot regions by carbon emissions trading partly comes from the market mechanism of carbon emissions trading.The higher the carbon price and market activity,the more obvious the enhancement effect of carbon emissions trading on low-carbon technology innovation.Finally,policy recommendations are proposed in four aspects: strengthening government supervision,enhancing carbon market vitality,increasing the policy guidance of innovation subsidies and promoting the construction of carbon emissions trading mechanisms according to local conditions,to provide reference and reference for promoting the implementation and improvement of China’s carbon emissions trading policy and promoting the continuous improvement of low-carbon technology innovation of enterprises.