Browsing by Author "Zheng, Yang"

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    Carbon Pricing Induces Innovation: Evidence from China's Regional Carbon Market Pilots
    (AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2018) Cui, Jingbo; Zhang, Junjie; Zheng, Yang
    China has launched seven regional pilots of emission trading scheme (ETS) to limit its carbon emissions. Taking advantage of the variations in the regional ETS pilots across regions and sectors and over time, we employ a difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) approach to evaluate the effect of ETS on low-carbon innovation at the firm level. Using patent application data of publicly-listed firms in China between 2003 and 2015, we find that the ETS pilots induced innovation in low-carbon technologies. The more active pilots—measured by carbon price and turnover rate of allowance trading—are associated with more intense low-carbon innovation.
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    The effectiveness of China's regional carbon market pilots in reducing firm emissions.
    (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021-12) Cui, Jingbo; Wang, Chunhua; Zhang, Junjie; Zheng, Yang
    China has implemented an emission trading system (ETS) to reduce its ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining rapid economic growth. With low carbon prices and infrequent allowance trading, whether China's ETS is an effective approach for climate mitigation has entered the center of the policy and research debate. Utilizing China's regional ETS pilots as a quasi-natural experiment, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the effects of ETS on firm carbon emissions and economic outcomes by means of a matched difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The empirical analysis is based on a unique panel dataset of firm tax records in the manufacturing and public utility sectors during 2009 to 2015. We show unambiguous evidence that the regional ETS pilots are effective in reducing firm emissions, leading to a 16.7% reduction in total emissions and a 9.7% reduction in emission intensity. Regulated firms achieve emission abatement through conserving energy consumption and switching to low-carbon fuels. The economic consequences of the ETS are mixed. On one hand, the ETS has a negative impact on employment and capital input; on the other hand, the ETS incentivizes regulated firms to improve productivity. In the aggregate, the ETS does not exhibit statistically significant effects on output and export. We also find that the ETS displays notable heterogeneity across pilots. Mass-based allowance allocation rules, higher carbon prices, and active allowance trading contribute to more pronounced effects in emission abatement.
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    The Impacts of Carbon Pricing on Firm Competitiveness: Evidence from the Regional Carbon Market Pilots in China
    (SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021-03-10) Cui, Jingbo; Zhang, Junjie; Zheng, Yang