Impact of environmental regulation on technological innovation of thermal power industry in China: the mediating role of industrial transfer

With the process of China’s economic transformation and structural adjustment, the trend of thermal power industry transfer is more and more obvious. Under the background of industrial transfer, the research of the influence of environmental regulation on technological innovation has become a vital issue that needs to be discussed urgently for the current high-quality economic development. Based on the thermal power industry data in 30 provinces of China from 2008 to 2017, this paper constructs a mediating effect model to examine the relationship among environmental regulation, industrial transfer, and technological innovation. The results reveal that: (1) there is a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and technological innovation; (2) the increase of environmental regulation intensity promotes the thermal power industry to move to areas with loose environmental regulation; (3) industrial transfers play a mediating role in the process of environmental regulation influencing technological innovation. Therefore, the government should formulate scientifically effective environmental regulation policies so that the thermal power industry can realize orderly transfer and realize technological innovation.