In discussing the policy effects of environmental regulation,we should focus not only on whether environmental regulation helps improve the environmental and economic performance of firms,but also on how such improvem...In discussing the policy effects of environmental regulation,we should focus not only on whether environmental regulation helps improve the environmental and economic performance of firms,but also on how such improvement is materialized,i.e.whether the obsolete mode of production is reversed.After matching the database of China’s industrial enterprises with that of pollution emissions from these industrial enterprises,this paper identifies the asymmetric scope of clean production standards to test the effect of environmental regulation on the total factor productivity(TFP)of the industrial enterprises.Our empirical research finds that the implementation of clean production standards may induce TFP improvement.However,such improvement only occurs for polluters who cannot or who barely meet clean production standards and does little to improve the production standards of polluters with low pollution emission,reflecting the yardstick phenomenon of the asymmetric environmental regulation policy effect:While polluters are forced to improve,clean enterprises that pollute less are more likely to take no action.Further research finds that such TFP improvement is materialized primarily by means of overall firm optimization;the compensation effect is insignificant and does not reverse the backward mode of production.Polluters cope with the implementation of clean production standards by purchasing more equipment and expanding capacity,which adds to the tension between the expansion of capacity and the abatement of pollution emission.展开更多
文摘In discussing the policy effects of environmental regulation,we should focus not only on whether environmental regulation helps improve the environmental and economic performance of firms,but also on how such improvement is materialized,i.e.whether the obsolete mode of production is reversed.After matching the database of China’s industrial enterprises with that of pollution emissions from these industrial enterprises,this paper identifies the asymmetric scope of clean production standards to test the effect of environmental regulation on the total factor productivity(TFP)of the industrial enterprises.Our empirical research finds that the implementation of clean production standards may induce TFP improvement.However,such improvement only occurs for polluters who cannot or who barely meet clean production standards and does little to improve the production standards of polluters with low pollution emission,reflecting the yardstick phenomenon of the asymmetric environmental regulation policy effect:While polluters are forced to improve,clean enterprises that pollute less are more likely to take no action.Further research finds that such TFP improvement is materialized primarily by means of overall firm optimization;the compensation effect is insignificant and does not reverse the backward mode of production.Polluters cope with the implementation of clean production standards by purchasing more equipment and expanding capacity,which adds to the tension between the expansion of capacity and the abatement of pollution emission.
