To Advance Industrial Green Technology via Environmental Governance—Evidence from China’s Industrial Sector

Industrial green technology progress is an effective way to realize high-quality economic development in China. The different competitive incentives of local governments make a difference in the intensity of environmental regulation between regions. The intensity of environmental regulation is different in different areas of the same industry, leading to the inter-regional transfer of pollution enterprises. The regional distribution of industries is different, which determines the different industries’ needs to coordinate different regions. Only when various industries realize the coordination of regional governance can they jointly promote the progress of industrial green technology. Based on data from 33 industrial sectors in China from 2001 to 2015 and considering the institutional evolution of governance synergy, this study comprehensively investigated the influence mechanism of local government environmental regulation on the industrial green technology progress using the mediating effect model. We found that environmental regulation promoted industrial technological progress through governance synergy and a low degree of inter-regional regulation coordination hindered the industries’ green technology progress. With the change in inter-regional governance synergy levels, we further discovered that the impact of environmental regulation on industrial green technology progress changed substantially. At a low level of governance synergy, environmental regulation inhibited industrial green technology progress. At a high level of governance synergy, environmental regulation promoted industrial green technology progress. While strengthening environmental regulation, we should promote inter-regional cooperation at the industry level. Only by collectively enforcing pollution regulations in industrial level can industrial green technology progress be promoted.