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The government's environmental protection policy can significantly contribute to alleviating resource shortages and curbing environmental pollution, but the impact of various policy instruments implemented by the government on energy efficiency is unclear. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2021, this paper analyses the impact of environmental regulation and the industrial structure on energy efficiency from the perspective of resource taxes. The U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and energy efficiency and between the optimization of industrial structure can significantly improve energy efficiency, and the optimization of industrial structure is conducive to weakening the initial inhibitory effect of environmental regulation. In addition, the analysis of regional heterogeneity showed that the impact of environmental regulation was stronger in the central and western regions, while the impact of industrial structure was stronger in the eastern and western regions. The conclusions of this study can help to expand the understanding of the relationship between environmental regulation and industrial structure on energy efficiency, provide policy enlightenment for the realization of green development and high-quality development, and provide Chinese examples and experiences for developing countries to improve energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's largest emitter of carbon, China has implemented a series of environmental regulatory policies to reduce emissions. However, most of these environmental regulations have been at the expense of increased corporate environmental costs. Therefore, research on how to efficiently control these costs is of significant practical importance. This paper uses the China's carbon trading policy (CTP) implemented in 2013 as a quasi-natural experiment, utilizing data from Chinese listed manufacturing firms between 2008 and 2020. Employing a difference-in-differences (DID) model, the study investigates the impact of market-incentive environmental regulatory policies (ERP) on environmental costs. The findings reveal that CTP significantly reduced the environmental costs of firms, confirming the positive and vital role market-incentive ERP can play in environmental protection and cost control. These conclusions remain robust after a series of stability tests. Mechanism analysis suggests that the cost reductions brought by market-incentive ERP are primarily achieved through increasing green innovation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), key polluting firms, firms with lower financial constraints, and firms with lower total production efficiency benefit more from market-incentive environmental regulatory policies. This study provides new empirical evidence for government policy-making aimed at achieving long-term sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact mechanism of different types of environmental regulations on corporate green technology innovation (GTI). The research focuses on analyzing three types of environmental regulations: command based environmental regulation (ER1), market-oriented environmental regulation (ER2), and voluntary environmental regulation (ER3), and how they affect corporate GTI. This study selected enterprise GTI as the dependent variable and measured it by the number of applications for green invention patents and green utility model patents. The independent variables are the three types of environmental regulations mentioned above. According to data from Chinese A-share listed companies. Using benchmark regression models to analyze the impact of different environmental regulations on GTI, and constructing a moderating effect model to study the role of corporate R&D investment and government support in the process of environmental regulations affecting GTI. The results indicate that (1) ER1, ER2, and ER3 can all promote enterprise GTI, and the three environmental regulatory methods have a better synergistic effect. (2) R&D investment has a positive correlation with the relationship between ER2 and GTI, and a negative correlation with ER 3 and ER 1. (3) There are differences in the GTI performance of enterprises in different regions, ownership nature, factor density, and industry types under the influence of environmental regulations. (4) The impact of environmental regulatory policies on corporate GTI is mainly short-term. This study provides a new perspective on how environmental regulations affect corporate GTI, especially in the context of developing countries like China. The research findings emphasize the role of different types of environmental regulations in incentivizing corporate GTI, while also pointing out factors that governments need to consider when formulating environmental policies, such as regional differences and corporate characteristics, which are of great significance for promoting green development of enterprises and achieving broader sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]