Can Technological Innovation Bring an Economic and Environmental Benefit to Energy Firms: An Evidence from China?

Yue-Jun Zhang, Ting Liang and Zongwu Cai
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Yue-Jun Zhang: School of Business, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
Ting Liang: School of Business, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, ChinaAuthor-Name: Weijie Zhai
Zongwu Cai: Department of Economics, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA

No 202112, WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS from University of Kansas, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper investigates whether technological innovation can bring some economic and environmental benefits to energy firms. By analyzing data for energy firms in China from 2009 to 2017, this paper finds that technological innovation is not always beneficial to the multi-interests of energy firms. First, technological innovation does not necessarily fully promote the benefit-based performance of energy firms in China. Actually, technological innovation increases the excess returns but inhibits the operational efficiency of energy firms, and has no a significant impact on the firm value of energy firms. Moreover, technological innovation exacerbates the crash risks of energy firms, which is not conductive to the stability of energy financial market. Second, technological innovation may significantly reduce carbon emissions intensity and play an important role in improving the environmental performance of energy firms in China. Finally, a sharp rise in energy prices may inhibit technological innovation activities, and thus influencing the performance of energy firms.

Keywords: Technological innovation; Energy firms; Firm performance; Truncated regression model; Treatment effect model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L25 M14 O13 Q55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-05, Revised 2021-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-eff, nep-ene and nep-env
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