Does the green patent pre-examination program reduce environmental pollution?

Li Yuan, Jing Tao, Jun Sun and Jiachao Peng ()
Additional contact information
Li Yuan: Hunan Normal University
Jing Tao: Hunan Normal University
Jun Sun: Hunan Normal University
Jiachao Peng: Wuhan Institute of Technology

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract China’s green patent pre-examination program, implemented through Intellectual Property Protection Centers (IPPCs), creates expedited examination procedures for green inventions. This study examines the program’s environmental impact by exploiting the staggered establishment of IPPCs across cities. Using a staggered difference-in-differences model with city-level data from 2012 to 2021, the analysis reveals that the program leads to significant reductions in sulfur dioxide and dust emissions in pilot cities. A series of robustness tests confirm that these effects appear causal. Furthermore, the study identifies three underlying mechanisms: stimulating green innovation, promoting the transfer of green technology, and restricting the entry of pollution-intensive firms. These channels contribute collectively to reductions in pollution. Notably, the program’s pollution reduction effects are more pronounced in regions with developing technology markets, weaker intellectual property protections, and less developed institutional environments. These results highlight the green patent pre-examination program as an effective policy for balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability, offering valuable insights for emerging economies pursuing green development.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-05619-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05619-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05619-9

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().