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Environmental science and pollution research international
Feb, 2023;30 (8): 21384-21403.

Environmental effects of the establishment of pilot free trade zones: evidence from Chinese resource-based enterprises.

Xin Li, Qiong Xu, Hecheng Wang
Author Information
  1. Xin Li: College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, 200433, China.
  2. Qiong Xu: School of Business, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China. 2267798431@qq.com. ORCID
  3. Hecheng Wang: School of Management, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, China.
PMID: 36266596 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23722-1

Abstract

The establishment of pilot free trade zones (FTZs) is a key strategic measure taken by China to promote high-quality economic development, but there are still gaps in the research on how the establishment of FTZs affects the environmental performance of enterprises from a micro perspective. Using data from China's Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share resource-based listed enterprises from 2010 to 2020, this paper uses the difference-in-difference model to examine the impact of the establishment of FTZs on the environmental performance of enterprises. The study finds that after the city that the enterprise located is set up as a free trade zone (FTZ), enterprises' environmental performance has been significantly improved, and this effect has a continuous positive impact. As far as the influence mechanism is concerned, the main driving forces for the establishment of FTZs are technology effect, competition effect, and resource allocation effect, which are embodied in the significant improvement of enterprises' green technology innovation, total factor productivity, and environmental protection investment. The environmental performance of non-state-owned and large-scale resource-based enterprises is more prominently affected by the establishment of FTZs. In capital-intensive industries and the eastern region, the environmental performance improvement effect of the establishment of FTZs is more obvious. This study provides targeted suggestions for resource-based enterprises to effectively implement the environmental green development strategy.

Keywords

Difference-in-difference model Environmental performance Pilot free trade zones Resource-based enterprises

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Grants

  1. 72072048/National Natural Science Foundation of China

MeSH Term

China
Climate
Economic Development
Journal Article

Word Cloud

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