出口行为如何影响企业环境绩效

本文首次采用中国制造业企业层面的能源消耗和产出微观数据,利用细分能源类型的二氧化碳排放因子换算得到微观企业环境绩效指标,即单位产出的二氧化碳排放量(二氧化碳排放强度),并试图以企业劳动生产率为桥梁,结合中国出口企业“生产率悖论现象”,研究中国企业出口行为对其环境绩效的影响机制。本文基于企业生产函数框架构建计量模型,实证结果表明:①出口造成中国企业二氧化碳排放强度显著增大,同时,排放强度随着企业出口密度的提高不断增长,出口并没有显著提升企业环境绩效,考虑不同生产函数形式后结论均较为稳健。②传统的“污染避难所问题”并不是造成中国出口企业二氧化碳排放强度更高的主要原因。③中国出口企业生产效率更低,进而导致更高的碳排放强度。④出口企业的低效率和低加成率(低利润率)进一步拖累了企业技术升级和环保投资,这是出口造成企业更为污染的重要原因。本文的研究弥补了贸易与中国微观企业层面环境绩效关系研究的缺口,从微观层面给予污染治理与减排策略以政策参考,证实了在国际贸易进程中不仅应制定宏观目标,还应直接着眼于微观企业,特别是促使出口企业提高自身的生产率,从而推动经济与环境的全面可持续发展。

How Does Export Behavior Affect Firm Environmental Performance

Using firm-level energy consumption and output data of Chinese manufacturing firms,this paper obtains firm environmental performance indicators by converting carbon dioxide emission factors based on different energy types,namely,carbon dioxide emissions of unit output,or carbon emissions intensity.In light of the“productivity paradox”of Chinese exporting enterprises,this paper examines the special patterns of Chinese firms’export behavior on their environmental performance.According to the empirical model built upon the framework of firm production functions,the empirical findings in this research are listed below:①Exporting has led to a significant increase in Chinese enterprises’carbon emissions intensity,and meanwhile,emissions intensity keeps increasing with corporate exporting intensity,indicating that exporting does not significantly contribute to the improvement of firm environmental performance;the results are robust in consideration of different forms of production functions.②The traditional“pollution haven”effect is not a major cause of the higher carbon emissions intensity of Chinese exporting firms.③The lower productivity of Chinese exporter leads to higher carbon emissions intensity.④The low efficiency and low markup(low profit rate)further drag down exporters’technological upgrading and environmental investment,which accounts largely for the higher emission intensity caused by export behavior.The research in this paper fills the gap in studies on the relationship between trading and environmental performance of Chinese enterprises from a micro perspective and provides guidance for the policy-making in terms of pollution control and emissions mitigation at a micro level,while confirming that during the development of international trade,in addition to identifying macro goals,the micro level of firm circumstances should also be given direct attention,a key focus of which is to prompt firms to improve production efficiency and therefore serve the coordinated sustainable development of economy and environment.