›› 2016, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (1): 53-61.

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Analysis of the Impact of Different Environmental Policy Instruments on Technology Innovation: Evidence from China's 30 Provinces' Panel Data from 2004-2011

Yu Wei1, Chen Qiang2, Chen Hua1   

  1. 1. School of Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031;
    2. School of Economics & Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092
  • Received:2014-01-19 Online:2016-01-30 Published:2016-02-01

Abstract:

This paper analyses the impact of different type environmental policy instruments on technology innovation based on the panel data of China's provinces over the period of 2004-2011. We classify environmental policy tools into three major categories: direct regulation, economic instruments and soft instruments, using "three-simultaneity" investment, sewage charges and environment news quantity as the proxy variables respectively. The results show that the direct regulation and economic instruments have significant positive impact on R&D expenditure of China, and the effect is not significant, while the soft instruments have a significant positive impact on R&D expenditure of China. This paper also finds that the result is diverse in different regions. The direct regulation has a positive impact on R&D expenditure of eastern and inland region, and the effect is not significant. The economic instruments have a negative impact on R&D expenditure of eastern region, while have a significant positive impact on R&D expenditure of inland region. The soft instruments have a significant positive on R&D expenditure of eastern, while have no significant positive on R&D expenditure of inland region.

Key words: direct regulation, economic instruments, soft instruments, R&D expenditure, panel model