Abstract
The administrative public interest litigation system (APILS) is an important guarantee for environmental public interest protection and an important institutional innovation of external supervision, which has great significance for low-carbon development. This study takes the listed companies from 2000 to 2021 in China as the research samples, and examines the impact of APILS on corporate carbon emissions (CCE). The results show that: (1) The APILS can significantly promote the reduction of CCE. (2) This research conclusion exhibits multidimensional heterogeneity, which varies depending on the industry type, market competition level, city size, and resource attributes. (3) The mechanism test shows that the APILS can promote CCE reduction through three mechanisms: green innovation, public environmental claims and environmental administrative regulation. (4) Further expansive analyses finds that social trust can strengthen the inhibitory effect of the APILS on CCE. The conclusion of this study provides empirical evidence for exploring the role of external public welfare system supervision in promoting CCE reduction.