Energy transition policies’ effect on corporate carbon emissions reduction: Examining the moderating effect of public environmental concern

Abstract

Based on panel data from Chinese A-share listed enterprises spanning 2000 to 2022, this study employs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to systematically evaluate the impact of the Energy Transition Policy on corporate carbon emission reduction performance. It further explores the moderating effect of public environmental awareness during policy implementation. The empirical analysis, conducted using Stata 17.0, comprehensively identifies policy effects and regional heterogeneity through panel regression, parallel trends tests, robustness checks, and subsample regressions. The findings reveal that the Energy Transition Policy significantly enhances corporate carbon reduction performance, with particularly pronounced effects in the economically developed eastern regions. In contrast, the policy effect is relatively limited in central and western regions, reflecting notable regional heterogeneity in policy implementation. Furthermore, public environmental awareness exerts a complex moderating influence: in contexts of high public attention, some enterprises tend to adopt “superficial compliance” strategies, thereby weakening the actual emission reduction effectiveness of the policy. This unveils a nonlinear interactive relationship between public supervision and policy enforcement. Further analysis indicates that the multi-tiered external constraint mechanism—comprising the Energy Transition Policy, public supervision, and market pressure—plays a crucial role in driving corporate green transformation. This study not only empirically validates the transmission pathways of policy tools at the micro-enterprise level but also reveals the “double-edged effect” of public participation in environmental governance. It provides theoretical foundations and policy references for China's pursuit of carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, offering significant practical implications and academic value.