Has environmental regulation facilitated the green transformation of the marine industry?

This study systematically examines the influence mechanism of environmental regulation on the green transformation of the marine industry in the context of high-quality development of the marine economy from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Using data from 2006 to 2016 in coastal areas, we construct an industrial green transformation index system from three levels: industrial development, industrial ecology, and green potential, empirically test the role of marine environmental regulation on the green transformation of the marine industry and the functional heterogeneity of different regulatory tools and studied the influence path of environmental regulation on the green transformation of the marine industry with the help of a mediating effect model. We find that from static and dynamic dimensions, environmental regulation has a significant role in promoting the green transformation of the marine industry, and there is a partial mediating effect of marine industry structure and marine technology progress. Market-based environmental regulation instruments have a more pronounced promotion effect than command-and-control instruments concerning instrumental heterogeneity. They can mitigate the inhibitory effect of overly strong command-and-control marine environmental regulations on the green transformation of marine industries. This study suggests that in the process of promoting the green transformation of the marine industry, China should play an active role in the government's policy control; promote the development of a combination of marine environmental regulation and implementation efforts; guide the flow of foreign investment, industrial structure upgrading, and technological progress in coordination with each other; and promote the high-quality development of the marine economy.