Against the backdrop of accelerated development of new forms of trade, the question of whether rapid expansion of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) can help to reduce carbon emissions among Chinese enterprises is of great significance for seizing new opportunities in foreign trade, and advancing firms’ green and low-carbon transformation. This study treats the creation of CBEC pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment, employing panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies matched with city-level information from 2006 to 2021. We construct a multi-period difference-in-differences model to identify the impact of CBEC pilot zone policy on corporate carbon emissions. Our findings indicate the construction of these pilot zones significantly reduces firms’ carbon emissions intensity, and the results are robust across multiple tests. We show the pilot zone initiative contributes to emission reductions by enhancing the adoption of digital infrastructure, promoting green technological innovation, and increasing environmental awareness among enterprises. Quantile regressions reveal pilot zones exert a more pronounced carbon-reduction effect on firms characterized by high carbon emissions intensity and advanced levels of digital transformation. Moreover, the policy effect is especially significant in heavily polluting industries, and regions with weaker governmental environmental regulations or lower public environmental concerns. This study makes an innovative contribution to the literature by empirically verifying the environmental governance effect of establishing CBEC pilot zones, and offers practical guidance for governments in formulating cross-border e-commerce policies and for enterprises pursuing low-carbon development.
Jiang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.