Does environmental regulation promote green technological innovation of companies? Evidence from green patents of Chinese listed companies

Environmental regulations stimulate Chinese listed companies to engage in green technology innovation. Moreover, the internal attributes of listed companies such as ownership form, the nature of the industry and locations affect the role of environmental regulations on green technology innovation. This paper selects data on Chinese-listed A-share enterprises from 2010-2019 and constructs a S-GMM model to analyze the impact of environmental regulations on green technology innovation through internal attributes of firms. The empirical results show that, first of all, in the sample period, tight environmental regulations hinder green technology innovation carried out by listed enterprises in state-owned heavy polluting industries in eastern China, and there is no innovation compensation effect. Secondly, green technology innovation in the previous period does not significantly promote green technology innovation in the current period. Finally, overvaluation of listed companies by investors encourage Chinese listed enterprises to engage in green technology innovation, especially among non-state-owned listed companies in non-heavy polluting industries. The findings of this paper provide empirical support for environmental regulation policy recommendations, that foster economic growth and promote green and low-carbon industrial transformation in the direction of high-quality development of the economy.