Research on the Impact of Energy-Use Right Trading System Driving Green Technology Innovation in Energy-Intensive Enterprises

The previous economic development model based on scale expansion has caused serious environmental pollution and resource constraints, so it is particularly important to take energy conservation and environmental protection as the core of green innovation development. The introduction of the energy-use right trading system is of great significance to the impact of green innovation on energy-intensive enterprises. This paper takes the 2017 energy-use right trading pilot policy as a "quasi-natural experiment", based on the data of listed companies from 2012 to 2022, and applies the PSM-DID method to test the impact of the energy-use right trading system on the green innovation of energy-intensive enterprises and its mechanism of action. The study finds that the energy-use rights trading system promotes the improvement of green innovation level, and the promotion effect gradually increases with time. The mechanism test shows that the energy-use right trading system promotes the green innovation level by increasing the R&D investment of enterprises, and the business environment of the region plays a positive moderating role in this process. The heterogeneity test shows that the energy-use right trading system is more effective in regions with more stringent state-owned enterprises and environmental regulations. Meanwhile, from the current point of view, the energy-use right trading system mainly promotes the strategic green innovation of enterprises, and does not drive the substantive innovation of enterprises enough. This paper provides theoretical support for the implementation of the energy-use right trading system, as well as empirical evidence and policy implications for its green innovation effects.