Carbon trading price and carbon performance of high energy-intensive enterprises

Separating the relationship between the environment and the economy and simply discussing the impact of carbon pricing on corporate carbon emissions may lead to the “green paradox”. That is, environmental policies aimed at reducing emissions would result in an increase in carbon emissions. To remedy this shortcoming, scholars have proposed the concept of “carbon performance”. With the growing interest in carbon performance, this study investigates the relationship between carbon trading price and enterprise carbon performance, which is still unknown in the existing literature. Based on the panel data of high energy-intensive (HEIs) listed enterprises in China from 2013 to 2021, we find a positive and significant relationship between carbon trading price and carbon performance. In the components, we find that the carbon performance enhancement effect is stronger for high industry competition, state-owned enterprises and large-scale enterprises. In addition, to explore the impact of external influences on the relationship, we select financing constraints and environmental uncertainty as moderating variables. This research provides new insights to enhance the carbon performance of HEIs, as well as experiences and lessons for the construction of China's carbon emissions trading market.