Environmental policy and sustainable development: An empirical study on carbon reduction among Chinese enterprises

Abstract This study mainly examined the influences of enterprises' carbon reduction behaviors on their sustainable development, and investigated the effects on sustainable development of carbon emission reduction by state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) from high‐carbon‐emission industries in China. Data were coded through a content analysis procedure, followed by regression analysis. Analysis of variance results revealed that SOEs and high‐carbon‐emission industries emphasize realizing carbon reduction more than do privately owned enterprises and non‐high‐carbon‐emission industries, with significant between‐groups differences observed between these enterprises and industries. Regression results indicated that carbon reduction positively and significantly influences corporate sustainable development, suggesting that carbon reduction is beneficial to both the ecological environment and corporate sustainable development. However, carbon reduction negatively yet insignificantly influences the sustainable development of SOEs in industries with high carbon emissions. The empirical findings may serve as a critical reference for China, which is moving toward a low‐carbon economy.