Can China’s Carbon Emissions Trading Rights Mechanism Transform its Manufacturing Industry? Based on the Perspective of Enterprise Behavior

Yue Dai, Nan Li, Rongrong Gu and Xiaodong Zhu
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Yue Dai: Economic Management Institute of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Nan Li: Economic Management Institute of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
Rongrong Gu: Business School of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Xiaodong Zhu: Economic Management Institute of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: The pilot policy of carbon emissions trading rights covers six heavy pollution industries in the manufacturing industry and has achieved considerable emission reductions. Based on enterprise behavior, this study analyzes the impact of the carbon emissions trading rights pilot policy on the productivity of manufacturing enterprises. In addition, we examine whether the pilot policy can aid in the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry. Furthermore, we examine the influence of carbon emissions trading rights on manufacturing enterprises of different sizes and with different property rights. The results show that the trading rights have not produced a “Porter effect” on the productivity of manufacturing enterprises in China or in subsamples based on the nature of enterprise ownership. The impact of the carbon trading rights on the productivity of state-owned manufacturing enterprises in the pilot provinces is based on the compliance cost hypothesis. Therefore, the pilot policy has yet to achieve coordinated economic, social, and environmental development. Lastly, we put forward several policy suggestions on the coordinated development of a carbon trading policy and manufacturing enterprises from the perspective of the government, enterprises, and society.

Keywords: carbon emissions trading rights; manufacturing; enterprise productivity; transformation and upgrading; enterprise behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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