环保考核与企业绿色创新——基于领导干部自然资源资产离任审计试点的准自然实验

Research on the Relation between Environmental Assessment and Firms’ Green Innovation——A Quasi-natural Experiment Based on the Pilot of Leading Officials’ Natural Resources Accountability Audit

本文采用双重差分法,考察领导干部自然资源资产离任审计这一新型环保考核制度对企业绿色创新的影响。研究表明:领导干部自然资源资产离任审计能够显著促进企业提高绿色创新产出,但主要表现在促进企业提高绿色发明专利产出,对绿色实用新型专利产出的影响不显著;而且这种效应主要集中于国有企业。机制检验表明:试点城市给予企业政府补助以及高管政治晋升激励是领导干部自然资源资产离任审计推动企业绿色创新的重要机制。横截面检验发现:领导干部自然资源资产离任审计对非重污染国企和处在市场化进程较低地区国企的绿色创新影响更显著。拓展性检验表明:领导干部自然资源资产离任审计能够强化绿色创新对国有企业全要素生产率的提升作用。文章对如何健全环保考核机制,更好地激励地方政府官员、国企准官员实施可持续发展战略,促进经济社会发展全面绿色转型提供了有益的参考。

This paper adopts the difference-in-difference(DID)method to investigate the impact of the leading officials’natural resources accountability audit(LONRAA),a new official environmental protection assessment system,on the green innovation of enterprises.Our results show that the LONRAA significantly promote enterprises to improve the output of green innovation.However,it mainly promotes the increase of the output of green invention patents,not for the output of green utility model patents,and those findings are only significant in state-owned enterprises(SOEs).The mechanism test shows that political promotion of senior executives and giving government subsidies to enterprises in those pilot cities are important mechanisms for the LONRAA to promote the SOEs to improve the output of green innovation.Cross-sectional test shows the LONRAA has a more significant impact on the green innovation of SOEs in non-heavily polluting industries and SOEs in regions with low marketization process.In addition,the expansion test shows the LONRAA could strengthen the improving effect of green innovation on the total factor production efficiency of enterprises.This paper provides reference for how to improve the environmental protection assessment mechanism of officials,encourage local government officials and quasi-officials of SOEs to implement sustainable development strategy,and promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.