Eco-innovation and environmental and economic management

Abstract

The concept of eco-innovation has begun to be considered as a solution to preventing environmental damage, since the 1990s. However, the effect of eco-innovation on environmental and financial performance has received limited attention. Eco-innovation is defined as new ideas, behavior, products, and processes that contribute to a decreased environmental burden as well as the economic management. Eco-innovation is expected to reduce amounts of environmental wastes in soil and water, air pollution, and material resource usage from economical point of view. However, the effect of eco-innovation on environmental and financial performance has received limited attention. Eco-innovation is considered as effective tools as it enhances energy efficiency and cleaner production, which in turn lowers carbon emission. Quality institutions have been considered as it enhances the quality of environment. Green technology innovation is essential to reducing the pollution emissions of enterprises. Under stronger environmental regulation, import trade has a significantly positive effect on green technology eco-innovation. Environmental regulation can enhance the technology spillover effect of import trade in high absorptive capacity regions and high R&D investment regions. How does environmental regulation affect green technology eco-innovation? Under different levels of environmental regulation, do the import trade behaviors of enterprises have different impacts on green technology eco-innovation? What influencing mechanisms are involved? The work of this thesis will try to answer these questions. How environmental regulation affects green technology eco-innovation needs more discussion. Moreover, few scholars have analyzed how environmental regulation affects green technology innovation from the perspective of import trade. The results of this paper show the following: First, there is a nonlinear relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation. When environmental regulation intensity is lower than the inflection point, environmental regulation will promote green technology innovation; when environmental regulation intensity is higher than the inflection point, environmental regulation will inhibit green technology innovation. Second, environmental regulations affect the technology spillover effects of import trade. When stricter environmental regulations are in place, import trade can significantly promote regional green technology innovation. Third, there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impacts of environmental regulation on the technology spillover effects of import trade. In regions with high levels of absorptive capacity and high R&D investment, the interaction between environmental regulation and import trade has a significantly positive effect on green technology innovation. This paper analyses the nonlinear relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation and discusses which kind of environmental regulation intensity is most beneficial to green technology innovation.