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The Relationship Between Industrial Manufacturing Innovation and CO2 Emissions in China: Evidence from Provincial Level Patent Data, 1999-2009

Prescott, Conor LU (2019) NEKN03 20191
Department of Economics
Abstract
The beginning of the 21st century marked a time in which the economic and environmental landscape in China was changing very rapidly. The manufacturing industry was facing up to rising factor costs, the rise of profit-oriented private enterprises was eminent, and the pro-growth strategy of the economy was causing increasing environmental degradation. In particular, China was fast becoming the largest emitter of CO2 emissions globally. As China seeks to utilize innovation as the key to a more sustainable growth strategy, as well as try to reach its emissions abatement targets in the future, analysing the effect that innovation has on the environment will prove ever more important for policy makers going forward. That is why this paper set... (More)
The beginning of the 21st century marked a time in which the economic and environmental landscape in China was changing very rapidly. The manufacturing industry was facing up to rising factor costs, the rise of profit-oriented private enterprises was eminent, and the pro-growth strategy of the economy was causing increasing environmental degradation. In particular, China was fast becoming the largest emitter of CO2 emissions globally. As China seeks to utilize innovation as the key to a more sustainable growth strategy, as well as try to reach its emissions abatement targets in the future, analysing the effect that innovation has on the environment will prove ever more important for policy makers going forward. That is why this paper set out to explore the relationship between innovations in the manufacturing sector and CO2 emission levels during this critical era of change between 1999-2009 that played host to the initial wave of profit-oriented private firms. By using provincial level patent data as a proxy for innovation, this study included all technological innovations in the analysis, recognizing that all innovations have the capacity to either directly or indirectly induce a change in CO2 emissions. The key findings are that environmental technology patents have a negative relationship with emissions, and that some non-green technologies also possess a relationship with emissions. Specifically, chemicals patents were shown to have a positive effect on emissions, and electronics patents lagged by 1 year were shown to negatively affect emissions. (Less)
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author
Prescott, Conor LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKN03 20191
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Patents, Innovation, CO2 Emissions, China, Panel Data
language
English
id
8984214
date added to LUP
2019-08-08 10:27:32
date last changed
2019-08-08 10:27:32
@misc{8984214,
  abstract     = {{The beginning of the 21st century marked a time in which the economic and environmental landscape in China was changing very rapidly. The manufacturing industry was facing up to rising factor costs, the rise of profit-oriented private enterprises was eminent, and the pro-growth strategy of the economy was causing increasing environmental degradation. In particular, China was fast becoming the largest emitter of CO2 emissions globally. As China seeks to utilize innovation as the key to a more sustainable growth strategy, as well as try to reach its emissions abatement targets in the future, analysing the effect that innovation has on the environment will prove ever more important for policy makers going forward. That is why this paper set out to explore the relationship between innovations in the manufacturing sector and CO2 emission levels during this critical era of change between 1999-2009 that played host to the initial wave of profit-oriented private firms. By using provincial level patent data as a proxy for innovation, this study included all technological innovations in the analysis, recognizing that all innovations have the capacity to either directly or indirectly induce a change in CO2 emissions. The key findings are that environmental technology patents have a negative relationship with emissions, and that some non-green technologies also possess a relationship with emissions. Specifically, chemicals patents were shown to have a positive effect on emissions, and electronics patents lagged by 1 year were shown to negatively affect emissions.}},
  author       = {{Prescott, Conor}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Relationship Between Industrial Manufacturing Innovation and CO2 Emissions in China: Evidence from Provincial Level Patent Data, 1999-2009}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}