School of Economics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Mar;29(11):15539-15550. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-16823-w. Epub 2021 Oct 9.
Most of the existing studies on the pollution haven hypothesis focus on the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow, ignoring the divestment of FDI and the role of competition. Based on Chinese firm-level data, we investigate the relationship between environmental regulation (ER) and the exit of foreign firms from China. The results indicate that ER does not cause foreign firms to leave China, but rather reduces the probability of foreign firms exiting China. This effect is present in eastern China and the medium-polluting industries. We innovatively explore the underlying mechanisms from the perspective of firm competition and market competition environment. Firm competition mechanism finds that ER promotes foreign firms' business performance (market share, profits, and productivity) but undermines the domestic firms' business performance, thus reducing the probability of foreign firms leaving. Furthermore, the market competition environment plays a positive moderating effect. ER has a greater role in reducing the probability of foreign firms' exit when regions have higher market competition. Our findings offer a basis for the Chinese government to formulate environmental protection policies and provide experience for other developing countries.
大多数关于污染避难所假说的现有研究都集中在外商直接投资（FDI）流入上，而忽略了 FDI 的撤资和竞争的作用。基于中国企业层面的数据，我们研究了环境规制（ER）与外国企业退出中国之间的关系。结果表明，ER 并没有导致外国企业离开中国，反而降低了外国企业退出中国的概率。这种效应在中国东部和中污染行业中存在。我们从企业竞争和市场竞争环境的角度创新地探讨了潜在机制。企业竞争机制发现，ER 促进了外国企业的业务绩效（市场份额、利润和生产力），但却损害了国内企业的业务绩效，从而降低了外国企业离开的概率。此外，市场竞争环境发挥了积极的调节作用。当地区市场竞争较高时，ER 在降低外国企业退出的概率方面发挥了更大的作用。我们的研究结果为中国政府制定环境保护政策提供了依据，并为其他发展中国家提供了经验。
