Energy Conservation or Emission Reduction? The Effects of Different Types of Environmental Regulations on Enterprises' Green Innovation Preference

Previous research on green innovation sought to comprehend the antecedents and outcomes of environmental regulations. However, how these antecedents translate into outcomes may vary depending on different types of environmental regulations, such as environmental subsidies and pollution charges. We propose and test the effects of different environmental regulations on enterprises' green innovation preferences. Moreover, we analyze how ownership type moderates the observed effects. The fundamental results reveal that: (1) Environmental subsidies and pollution charges positively affect energy conservation innovation. (2) Environmental subsidies and pollution charges positively affect emission reduction innovation. (3) Pollution charges are not as effective as environmental subsidies in promoting energy conservation innovation. However, pollution charges have a greater implementation effect than environmental subsidies in encouraging emission reduction innovation. (4) The types of enterprise ownership only play a positive moderating role in the relationship between pollution charges and emission reduction innovation. Accordingly, this paper provides auxiliary decision-making for the government to motivate the energy conservation and emission reduction of enterprises.