Do environmental regulations of carbon emissions and air pollution foster green technology innovation: Evidence from China's prefecture-level cities

This study investigates the effects of environmental regulations of carbon emissions and air pollution on green technology innovation by examining a panel data of 281 prefecture-level cities of China from 2004 to 2016. The results show that: (1) Environmental regulations of carbon emissions and air pollution had a positive effect on the cities' green technology innovation as measured by green invention patent applications, which is consistent with the “Porter Hypothesis”; (2) Environmental regulations of carbon emissions had a greater impact on green technology innovation than those of air pollution; (3) Local governments’ human resource and financial investments in R&D activities positively moderated the association between environmental regulations and green technology innovation.