The impact of China's carbon trading policy on enterprises' energy-saving behavior

This paper mainly investigates whether emissions trading for pollutant permits more effective. By employing difference-in-differences method and a compressive firm-level dataset, we evaluate the impact of carbon trading system pilot cities policy on enterprises' energy-saving behavior. The find...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qianling Zhou, Xiaoyong Cui, Hongfu Ni, Liutang Gong, Shengzhi Mao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-01-01
Series:Heliyon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024003578
Description
Summary:This paper mainly investigates whether emissions trading for pollutant permits more effective. By employing difference-in-differences method and a compressive firm-level dataset, we evaluate the impact of carbon trading system pilot cities policy on enterprises' energy-saving behavior. The findings indicate that after carbon trading system pilot cities policy, enterprises’ coal consumption and coal intensity decreased by almost 34 % and 33 % respectively. The policy effect is more pronounced for larger companies and for firms in energy-intensive sectors. Moreover, the policy effect becomes stronger over time. Our results satisfy the common trend assumption. Meanwhile, the investment in equipment and output are increased, which prove emissions marketization could bring about substantial improvements in productivity.
ISSN:2405-8440