Empirical Analysis about the Impact of Environmental Regulation on Enterprise Technological Innovation

Liu+Meng

【Abstract】Based on the inter-provincial panel data from 2000 to 2014， the paper analyzes the influence of oil price and environmental regulation on the technological innovation of enterprises. The results show that the induced effect of oil price factor is confirmed in our country， and the influence of environmental regulation on the promotion of technological innovation has been improved. Finally， according to the results of empirical tests， give the appropriate regional feasibility advice and constructive suggestions.

【Key words】environmental regulation； induced innovation effect； “Porter hypothesis”

1. Introduction Literature review

In the context of the slowdown in global GDP growth and the new economic background， China has implemented government， such as price and environment， and domestic enterprises are still in the macroeconomic environment in which oil prices are rising and environmental regulation is strengthened. In order to deeply study the influence of economic environment on technological innovation， This paper introduces the theory of induced technological innovation and the theory of“the Porter hypothesis” about the elements and the environment.

In recent years， domestic and foreign scholars based on different regions， different industries set off the theory of induced technology innovation and“wave hypothesis” research wave. Hayley and Ruttan （1970）， starting from the domestic and Japanese factors of production factors， reveal that under the different constraints of resources， the agricultural market factor prices rise to induce the relevant enterprises to carry out technological innovation and development， confirming the induced innovation theory. Shen Neng （2012） built the enterprise governance environment technology innovation and using the panel threshold model to prove that they are not a simple linear relationship but there is a“U” type relationship.

In summary， although the induced innovation theory and the“Porter hypothesis” are confirmed in different economies at home and abroad， but the cross-effects of the two literature is still relatively small， to fill this gap， this paper based on changes in oil prices and Environmental regulation on the role of technological innovation in enterprises to conduct empirical analysis and research.

2. The empirical results and analysis

In order to further study the relationship between environmental regulation and enterprise technological innovation from the perspective of institutional environment， with reference to the super-logarithmic model test of Nghiep application， the square of environmental regulation is added to the model test. In addition， for the weakening of the heteroscedry interference， in addition to the value of the variable other variables are taken logarithm.endprint

In order to avoid the stability of the model， the clustering Standard error adjustment of the panel data method for empirical testing. At the same time， in order to compare with the clustering robust standard error method， we also give a comprehensive treatment method to correct the heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation and the regression results of the correlation problem of the group. The generalized least squares method， in addition， the model Hausman test p value of 0.004， accept the fixed effect model. In addition， this paper refers to the system GMM test model proposed by Blundell and Bond to reduce the errors caused by the missing variables. The regression results of the system GMM show that the regression characteristics of the core explanatory variables are not changed and the model is robust.

Table 1 shows the results of the overall regression. Models （1） - （3） are regression methods that use clustering criteria to incrementally add variables. The model （4） uses the generalized least squares method， and the model （5） is the fixed effect model. Since the fixed effect model is more efficient， we mainly describe the model （5）. In the model （5）， the regression parameter of the variable lnEP is 0.198， and through the significance test， the oil price increase leads to the verification of the technological innovation activities.

In the model （3） to the model （5）， the first-order regression parameter of the environmental regulation and the quadratic regression parameter are opposite. Comparing the model （2） and the model （3）， the effect of oil price changes on the R&D input is not significant when the square of the environmental regulation is removed. These conclusions show that only when the environmental regulation is greater than one or several specific thresholds， It will promote the enterprise R&D investment， that is， with the level of environmental regulation， environmental regulation on the enterprise technological innovation after the first suppression of the impact of the promotion， they show the“U” type relationship.

Among the other control variables， the regression results of enterprise scale variables are opposite to the expected assumptions. The results of the enterprise scale will inhibit the R & D input of the enterprise， This may be because the size of enterprises on the enterprise technology innovation to promote the impact of the first to promote post-suppression. They show the inverted“U” type relationship.endprint

3. Conclusions and policy recommendations

In general， the theory of oil price change induced technology innovation and the“Porter hypothesis” have been confirmed nationwide. In addition， a series of control variables， including economic development， market process， human capital knowledge level， degree of industrialization and enterprise scale， are in line with expectations. It is found that the control variable in addition to firm size will inhibit enterprise technological innovation， The rest includes the economic development status， the degree of market process， the level of human capital knowledge and the degree of industrialization and a series of control variables and enterprise technological innovation showed a significant positive correlation.

Based on the above regression results， the following policy recommendations are given：

（1） Relative increase in the proportion of oil and other clean energy use. This not only can expand the induced innovation effect of the extension， but also with China to reduce the proportion of coal in the energy consumption structure policy consistent. Therefore， while increasing the proportion of oil use， but also to improve the corresponding environmental standards， let the oil price control， the implementation of market pricing to cooperate with. Only a two-pronged approach can be achieved to expand the induced technology innovation and improve the environment“win-win” effect.

（2） Gradually strengthen the implementation of environmental regulation. In the process of environmental regulation and policy formulation， we also need to actively play the supervisory role of relevant government departments， and strive to break through the threshold of environmental regulation， and explore the degree of regulation of enterprise technological innovation in the region where environmental regulation breaks through the threshold. At the same time， continue to improve the implementation of environmental regulation and regulatory system， the real rules to follow.

References：

[1]Hamamoto M.Environmental regulation and the productivity of Japanese manufacturing industries[J].Resource and Energy Economics，2006，28（4）：299-312.

[2]Popp D.Induced innovation and energy prices[J].American Economic Review，2002，92（1）：160-180.

[3]Alpay E，Kerkvliet J，Buccola S.Productivity growth and environmental regulation in Mexican and US food manufacturing [J].American Journal of Agricultural Economics，2002，84（4）：887- 901.endprint