Capital enrichment, innovation capability and environmental pollution effect: Evidence from China's manufacturing industry

Abstract

In recent years, the issue of environmental pollution caused by the manufacturing industry has been widely criticized. To explore the relationship between capital enrichment and environmental pollution, the mediating effect model was constructed by using the panel data of 28 sub-sectors of China's manufacturing industry from 2011 to 2017. Results show that the phenomenon of capital enrichment is mainly concentrated in industries with high-profit margins, intensive technology, national policy support, and resource or national monopolistic positions. Both capital enrichment and innovation capability have a promotion effect on inhibiting environmental pollution, but with the decline of innovation capability, the effect of capital enrichment on pollution weakens. Innovation capability plays a mediating role, which leads to the mechanism of capital enrichment → innovation capability → environmental pollution. The impact of capital enrichment on environmental pollution under different levels of innovation capability is heterogeneous, and the effect is stronger in high-tech industries.