Policy uncertainty reduces green innovation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Mengyu; Wurgler, Jeffrey; Zhang, Hong
• 署名单位: Singapore Management University; New York University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104189
• 发表日期: 2026-01
• 页码: 104189
• 关键词: R&D; Corporate investment; irreversible investment; Environmental economics; Policy Uncertainty; Climate finance; research-and-development; air-pollution; political uncertainty; sustained exposure; life expectancy; Projection bias; IMPACT; PRODUCTIVITY; INVESTMENT; RISK

摘要

Policy uncertainty can undermine the power of government subsidies to stimulate environmentally friendly research and development. We show that Chinese firms' green R&D falls as the uncertainty of environmental subsidies rises: Exogenous, weather-driven air pollution variability induces subsidies to fluctuate, and firms in areas with high weather-driven subsidy variability undertake less green R&D and hire fewer technical employees, controlling for the average level of subsidies. Heavy emitters and environmental technology firms are more affected. The results also illustrate how policy uncertainty can arise when policymakers are influenced by conditions that are salient but with causes that are difficult to disentangle.