An empirical study on the institutional factors of energy conservation and emissions reduction: Evidence from listed companies in China

The institutional factors, including laws, tax policies, credit policies, government subsidies, media supervision and marketization degree, on the energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) of 84 listed Chinese chemical and steel companies were studied, which showed positive effect on ECER. A fixed effect model and the generalized method of moments model were used. Tax policies, government subsidies, credit policies and media supervision are the top 4 factors. In the long-term, a strong legal and regulating system is necessary; the impact of market should also be strengthened; the supervision role of the media should be continued and further developed; for corporate environmental protection information, the establishment of a disclosure system is in need.