Influence of Environmental Regulation on the International Competitiveness of the High-Tech Industry: Evidence from China

Abstract

Environmental regulation has become a significant way to achieve sustainable development. Taking the panel data of China’s high-tech industries from 2007–2016 in 30 provinces and cities as a sample, regression models are established to study the impact of three different types of environmental regulations on international competitiveness and the moderating effect of R&D (research & development) investment. The results show that the impact of environmental regulations on the international competitiveness of high-tech industries is related to the type of environmental regulation. There is a significant negative correlation between economic environmental regulation (EER) and the international competitiveness of high-tech industries, and R&D investment has a significant inhibitory effect on the relationship between the two. For both commanding environmental regulation (CER) and participatory environmental regulation (PER), R&D investment plays a significant moderating role in environmental regulation and the international competitiveness of high-tech industries. The impact of all three environmental regulations on R&D investment was positive but not significant. Finally, based on these research conclusions, a few countermeasures and suggestions are discussed for the formulation of China’s environmental regulation policies and the development of high-tech industries.