School of Finance, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, 40 Shungeng Street, Jinan, 250000, Shandong, China.
School of Economics and Trade, Shandong Management University, No. 3500 Dingxiang Road, Jinan, 250257, Shandong, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Jul;30(31):76950-76968. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-27682-y. Epub 2023 May 30.
New energy strategies are crucial to address energy and environmental issues, but the energy consumption transition may also affect firm behavior with unintended economic consequences. Using data from A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019, this paper investigates the impact of energy consumption structure transformation on firms' total factor productivity (TFP) using China's new energy demonstration city (NEDC) policy as a shock. It is found that the NEDC reduces firms' TFP by about 6.4%. This conclusion still holds after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. According to the channel analysis, NEDC reduces the efficiency of firms' resource allocation and innovation, resulting in efficiency losses. Furthermore, differences in firms' ownership and geographical location make the impact of NEDC on TFP heterogeneous. For example, the hindering effect of NEDC on TFP is more pronounced in private firms and firms in regions with lower marketization. This paper shows that the promotion and application of new energy may have certain economic costs. To better balance the benefits and costs of new energy strategies, the government and other relevant departments should increase policy flexibility and perfection.
新能源战略对于解决能源和环境问题至关重要，但能源消费转型也可能会影响企业行为，带来意想不到的经济后果。本文利用 2010 年至 2019 年中国 A 股上市公司的数据，以中国新能源示范城市（NEDC）政策为冲击，考察了能源消费结构转型对企业全要素生产率（TFP）的影响。研究结果表明，NEDC 降低了企业的 TFP，约为 6.4%。在经过一系列稳健性和内生性检验后，该结论仍然成立。根据渠道分析，NEDC 降低了企业资源配置和创新的效率，导致效率损失。此外，企业所有制和地理位置的差异使得 NEDC 对 TFP 的影响具有异质性。例如，NEDC 对 TFP 的抑制作用在私营企业和市场化程度较低地区的企业中更为明显。本文表明，新能源的推广和应用可能会带来一定的经济成本。为了更好地平衡新能源战略的收益和成本，政府和其他相关部门应提高政策的灵活性和完善性。
