Effect of Environmental Regulation on Energy-Intensive Enterprises’ Green Innovation Performance

Abstract

Promoting energy-intensive enterprises’ green innovation is essential for transitioning to a low-carbon economy. This study explores the promoting factors and influencing mechanisms that drive energy-intensive enterprises’ green innovation performance from the perspective of environmental regulation and the theory of planned behavior. A questionnaire was distributed to energy-intensive enterprises in China from February 2021 to March 2022, and various statistical analyses such as confirmatory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis, structural equation modeling, and stepwise regression model analysis were conducted. The findings reveal that environmental regulation has a positive impact on energy-intensive enterprises’ environmental innovation prospective, stakeholder pressure, and innovation capability, respectively. In turn, this has a significant impact on enterprises’ green innovation performance. This study also found stakeholder pressure and green innovation capability to play an important role between environmental regulation and green innovation performance. It is better to promote enterprises’ green innovation prospective and innovation ability through environmental regulation to promote stakeholder pressure, in turn, that improve enterprises’ innovation performance. It is important to leverage these influencing factors to promote green innovation performance to achieve a carbon turning point.