Impact of Environmental Regulation on Industy Green Total Factor Productivity: Mediation Effect of Short-term Liquidity

LIU Jinhui, ZOU Zhendong, QIU Guoyu†

School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055; † Corresponding author, E-mail: qiugy@pkusz.edu.cn

Abstract Based on system-generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM), this paper analyzes the influence of environmental regulation on the GTFP (green total factor productivity) of 37 industries in China during the period of 2003–2015 by mearsuring the intermediate effect of liquidity ratio. The result shows that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of GTFP among all industries was 6.8%. Technical development was the main contributor ameliorating GTFP. GTFP of industries above designated size goes upward and then downward in accordance with the stringency of environmental regulation. Short-term liquidity plays a role as intermediate variable, since it drops as environmental regulation gets sticter, which leads to a rise in GTFP of industries. When environmental regulation gets too strict for enterprises to comply with, their short-term liquidity ratio decreases significantly, which brings financial risks and leads to a reduction of GTFP. These conclusions are of great significance for government and enterprises to enact and comply with environmental and development strategies. Key words environmental regulation; green total factor productivity (GTFP); short-term liquidity; mediating effect; industry

改革开放以来, 我国工业经历快速发展, 已进入高质量发展阶段。过去粗放的发展形式带来资源浪费和环境污染等一系列问题, 导致经济发展与资源环境保护之间的矛盾逐渐突出。我国政府已出台一系列引导工业绿色转型的环境规制政策(包括

2014年新《环境保护法》和《工业绿色发展规划(2016—2020)》等)来约束企业等排污主体, 使其符合环境保护和资源合理利用的要求。但是, 在实际执行过程中, 环境规制对工业绿色全要素生产率(green total factor productivity, GTFP)的影响存在许

国家重点研发计划(YS2017YFGH000958)和深圳市基础研究计划(JCYJ20180504165440088)资助收稿日期: 2020–01–16; 修回日期: 2020–07–18