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Green research and development activities and SO2 intensity: an analysis for China

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Abstract

Carrying out domestic research and development (R&D) activities can improve environmental performance. However, extant studies have not conclusively indicated that R&D activities in all energy fields lead to a reduction in the SO2 intensity. SO2 intensity is defined as the ratio of SO2 emissions to the GDP. Hence, green R&D activities are required. However, the strong heterogeneity between green R&D activities could have distinctive economic consequences. Thus, it is imperative to study the heterogeneity of green R&D activities on SO2 intensity. Moreover, previous studies have ignored regional differences. Although overlooked in the literature, a technology’s adsorptive ability could be a key determinant of the effects of green R&D activities on SO2 intensity. Based on a linear analysis of China’s provincial data over 2000–2016, we show that green R&D activities are instrumental in reducing SO2 intensity. Different green R&D activities have distinct goals and contrasting statistical effects on SO2 intensity. The empirical results show that the impact of green R&D activities on SO2 intensity differs by region. Lastly, it is proposed that green R&D activity effects on SO2 intensity are nonlinear by analysing a technology’s adsorptive ability.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Notes

  1. It is worth noting that the names and definitions of ‘clean’ technologies vary from article to article. In most studies, ‘clean technologies’ and ‘green innovations’ correspond to technologies associated with reducing pollution emissions (OECD, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Wang 2017, Ley et al. 2016).

  2. There is no consensus about the specific dimension and definition of technology absorption ability in current studies. In most researches, the definition of technology absorptive ability was cited by Cohen and Levinthal (1989, 1990, 1994). Therefore, based on Cohen and Levinthal (1989, 1990, 1994) and combined with the research objectives of this paper, it is implied that technology absorption ability refers to a region’s ability to value, acquire, digest, transform, commercially utilise, and recreate new knowledge.

  3. Theoretical analytical framework of this paper is presented in Fig. 1.

  4. Although there are other variables for technology absorptive ability, such as institutional environment and financial development, it is difficult to construct the relevant variables of these in China, because there are some missing data of government expenditure and credit in some provinces since 2000.

  5. WIPO formulated the IPC Green Inventory, which classifies green R&D activities into seven categories: waste management, administrative regulatory or design aspects, energy conservation, transportation, alternative energy production, agriculture or forestry, and nuclear power generation.

  6. Since the data is from the China National Intellectual Property Administration, there is no statistical information such as funds in the database, so the author only discusses green R&D activities according to different purposes.

  7. Only the coefficient of FDI seems different from Table 3, since the effect of FDI on SO2 intensity is unsure from national-level analysis, as discussed in the ‘Literature review’ section.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Yuee Tang

  2. School of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, 611130, China

    Shuxing Chen & Junbing Huang

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  1. Yuee Tang
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  2. Shuxing Chen
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Yuee Tang, Shuxing Chen, and Junbing Huang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yuee Tang, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Tang, Y., Chen, S. & Huang, J. Green research and development activities and SO2 intensity: an analysis for China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 16165–16180 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11669-0

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