School of Marxism, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), 430074, China.
Energy Centre, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland Business School, Owen G Glenn Building, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
J Environ Manage. 2024 Mar;355:120500. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120500. Epub 2024 Mar 1.
Balancing economic growth with environmental conservation poses a universal challenge for governments worldwide. This study investigates the intricate interplay between governments' economic-environmental trade-offs and their implementation of policies aimed at promoting Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER). Given the discretion of Chinese local governments in economic and environmental policy, we take China as a case study. To conduct this research, we first merge critical data on China's economic growth targets and environmental regulations with information on listed enterprises. Then, we employ a "U-shaped" relationship model to examine the impact of these trade-offs on CER implementation. The results reveal that: (1)The effective fulfillment of CER by enterprises is primarily driven by stricter environmental regulations. (2) Economic growth targets can, to some extent, diminish the policy effect of environmental regulations on CER fulfillment. (3)The crowding-out effect of economic growth targets is particularly pronounced within specific subsets of enterprises, including state-owned enterprises, heavily polluting firms, and those facing high profit pressure. These findings imply that when local governments implement contradictory policies, they must consider not only enterprises' political connections and economic contributions but also pay close attention to the survival dilemma of enterprises. This balancing act aims to harmonize conflicting policy objectives. This research deepens the understanding of how institutional and policy frameworks impact enterprise engagement in CER, especially within the context of governments' economic-environmental trade-offs. It sheds light on the strategies employed by China and other emerging economies to effectively leverage contradictory policies to foster sustainable green growth.
平衡经济增长与环境保护是世界各国政府面临的普遍挑战。本研究探讨了政府在经济-环境权衡取舍及其实施促进企业环境责任（CER）政策方面的复杂相互作用。鉴于中国地方政府在经济和环境政策方面拥有酌处权，我们选择中国作为案例研究。为了进行这项研究，我们首先将中国经济增长目标和环境法规的关键数据与上市企业的信息进行合并。然后，我们采用“U 型”关系模型来检验这些权衡取舍对 CER 实施的影响。结果表明：（1）企业有效履行 CER 主要受更严格的环境法规驱动。（2）经济增长目标在一定程度上可以降低环境法规对 CER 履行的政策效果。（3）经济增长目标的挤出效应在特定企业群体中尤为明显，包括国有企业、重污染企业和面临高利润压力的企业。这些发现意味着，当地方政府实施矛盾政策时，他们不仅必须考虑企业的政治联系和经济贡献，还必须密切关注企业的生存困境。这种平衡行为旨在协调相互冲突的政策目标。本研究深化了对制度和政策框架如何影响企业参与 CER 的理解，特别是在政府经济-环境权衡取舍的背景下。它揭示了中国和其他新兴经济体为了有效地利用矛盾政策来促进可持续绿色增长而采取的策略。
