School of Economics and Management, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
PLoS One. 2022 Oct 3;17(10):e0275498. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275498. eCollection 2022.
The unreasonable economic development model of human beings has caused the environmental pollution problem to become increasingly serious. In order to achieve a positive relationship and interaction between environmental regulation, research and development (R&D) investment, and green technology innovation, and effectively solve the "strange circle" problem between high-quality economic development and environmental pollution in China and even the world, this paper takes the panel data of industrial enterprises above designated size in Chinese mainland 31 provinces from 2009 to 2019 as a research sample. The comprehensive index of R&D investment and green technology innovation was established by the entropy method, and the panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model was constructed from the dynamic endogenous perspective, and the dynamic interaction and regional heterogeneity between environmental regulation, R&D investment, and green technology innovation were empirically analyzed by using impulse response function and variance decomposition. We obtain the following findings: (1) Environmental regulation has a two-way interaction relationship with R&D investment and green technology innovation, and R&D investment has a promotion effect on the "green degree" of technological innovation, but its role is still weak and has lagging characteristics. (2) There is significant regional heterogeneity in the dynamic responses of the eastern, central and western parts of China. (3) In the long run, environmental regulation has a "negative crowding out effect" on R&D investment in the central region, and the phenomenon of "central collapse" still exists but will gradually weaken. Environmental regulation has a "positive innovation compensation effect" on green technology innovation. Green technology innovation and R&D investment have an obvious "Pareto improvement" effect on environmental regulation, especially in the eastern region. The conclusions of this study help to clarify the dynamic interaction between environmental regulation, R&D investment, and green technology innovation, further improve environmental regulatory policies and green technology innovation R&D decision-making, and provide an effective way to achieve green and sustainable development in China and other parts of the world.
人类不合理的经济发展模式导致环境污染问题日益严重。为了实现环境规制、研发（R&D）投入与绿色技术创新之间的积极关系和互动，有效解决中国乃至世界高质量经济发展与环境污染之间的“怪圈”问题，本文以 2009-2019 年中国大陆 31 个省、自治区、直辖市的规模以上工业企业面板数据为研究样本。采用熵值法构建 R&D 投入和绿色技术创新的综合指数，从动态内生视角构建面板向量自回归（PVAR）模型，利用脉冲响应函数和方差分解实证分析环境规制、R&D 投入与绿色技术创新之间的动态互动和区域异质性。研究结果表明：（1）环境规制与 R&D 投入和绿色技术创新之间存在双向互动关系，R&D 投入对技术创新的“绿色程度”具有促进作用，但作用仍然较弱且具有滞后特征。（2）中国东、中、西部地区的动态响应存在显著的区域异质性。（3）从长期来看，环境规制对中部地区 R&D 投资存在“负挤入效应”，“中部塌陷”现象仍然存在，但会逐渐减弱。环境规制对绿色技术创新具有“正向创新补偿效应”。绿色技术创新和 R&D 投资对环境规制具有明显的“帕累托改进”效应，在东部地区尤为明显。本研究的结论有助于厘清环境规制、R&D 投入与绿色技术创新之间的动态互动关系，进一步完善环境监管政策和绿色技术创新研发决策，为中国乃至世界其他地区实现绿色可持续发展提供有效途径。
