Exploring the relationships between different types of environmental regulations and environmental performance: evidence from China

The literature on the relationship between environmental regulations (ERs) and environmental performance (EP) of firms has largely ignored consideration of different kinds of ERs and the potential non-linear relationship between ERs and EP. This study uses the literature to differentiate three types of ERs (command-and-control regulations, market-based regulations and informal regulations) and further investigates (i) the linear links between different types of ERs and EP, and (ii) the potential non-linear relationships. The results provide support that the links between ERs and EP are not linear for command-and-control regulations and market-based regulations but non-linear and positive. For informal regulations, both the linear and non-linear relationships are not significant. We further test the impacts of time lag effects. Command-and-control regulations have impacts on EP both in current and the preceding years, whereas market-based regulations only affect EP in current year rather than in the preceding years. It takes 2 years to see the effects of informal regulations on EP.