Inter-firm collaborations on carbon emission reduction within industrial chains in China: Practices, drivers and effects on firms' performances

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants that influence the industrial firms to cooperate on carbon emission reduction (CER) within their industrial chains. And whether the CER collaborations could improve the performance of participants is another focus of our study. This paper provides a questionnaire survey about CER inter-firm collaborations on energy intensive industries in China. Three regression models including Multiple Linear Regression, Binary Choice Model, and Ordinal Choice Regression are employed to identify the determinants that drive or impede the implementation of CER collaborations. The results show that inter-firm CER collaborations are generally at an infancy stage in China. The main driver for CER collaborations derives from the CER demands of other stakeholders in the industrial chains. And the lack of infrastructure and mechanism is the main barrier that impedes the inter-firm collaborations. Moreover, CER collaborations through industrial symbiosis play a positive role in improving economic performance. However, the effects are to a large extent related to the improved environmental performance through the CER collaborations. Our results also indicate that there is much room for industrial firms to conduct CER collaborations in China, and market tools are somewhat more effective than compulsive regulations for promoting CER collaborations.