Research on the innovation incentive effect and heterogeneity of the market-incentive environmental regulation on mineral resource enterprises

Problems of ecological environment and resources have become an important factor restricting the high-quality development of China’s economy. How to better integrate into the sustainable development model has become an important goal of macro-policy regulation in the transition period. Mining industry is a fundamental industry in China. Strengthening the incentive role of mining innovation is of great importance for ensuring China’s energy security, reducing emissions and promoting economic growth. However, whether environmental regulation can induce technological innovation ability, that is, the existence of Porter effect, is still controversial. It is helpful to study the influence of the Porter hypothesis on mining enterprises for their sustainable development. Based on the data of listed companies in China from 2003 to 2018, and against the background of the SO₂ emission trading pilot policy implemented in 2007, this paper studies the incentive effect of the market-incentive environmental regulation on the technological innovation ability of mineral resource enterprises, tests the existence of Porter effect, and discusses the heterogeneity. The results show that the market-incentive environmental regulation has a significant incentive effect on the innovation of mining enterprises, and there is significant Porter effect on mining enterprises. The robustness test confirms the correctness of this conclusion. At the same time, this paper also discusses the variation of the characteristics of heterogeneous enterprises, and finds that enterprises with utility model patents, no low-carbon behavior, and non-provincial cities and regions with high environmental regulation are more sensitive to the SO₂ emission trading pilot policy. This paper verifies the incentive effect of the market-incentive environmental regulation on the innovation ability of mining enterprises, and provides a reference for the formulation of innovation incentive policies for mining enterprises in China.