ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY, CARBON EMISSIONS, AND FEMALE INVENTORS

Ruixue (Rachel) Gao

The technology market facilitates transfer and accelerates implementation of cutting-edge technologies, including environmental technologies. We construct a comprehensive dataset on environmental technology transfers and examine the impact of environmental technology adoption on carbon emissions. We show that firms adopting environmental technologies through the technology market experience improved emission efficiency and have significantly lower emissions, by approximately 11%, over subsequent one to five years. The results are robust when we perform matching sample regressions, placebo tests, and control for unintended technology spillovers as alternative channels. To address endogeneity concerns, we perform IV regressions by constructing a novel instrumental variable that exploits exogenous variation in firms’ accessibility to technology market. We further investigate what motivate firms to adopt environmental technologies through the technology market. Our findings indicate that large emitters, especially highly profitable firms, are unfortunately less likely to adopt environmental technologies through the technology market. Finally, we show that while both penalties and subsidies incentivize firms to adopt environmental technologies, subsidies appear to be a more effective policy tool. This study investigates the participation of female inventors in green technology innovation. Consistent with the notion that women generally care more about the environment, we document a high growth of female-involved environmental patents over time. We further show that environmental patents involving female inventors have higher economic value, especially those authored by solo female inventor. Moreover, firms with female environmental inventors invest more in R&D activities and produce more green innovations. Finally, we show that firms with strong environmental performance, female executives, and gender-diverse board are more likely to attract and employ female environmental inventors. While the findings of our study highlight the economic significance and growing contribution of women to green technology innovation, the gender disparity persists. More inclusive and supportive corporate culture is crucial for fostering the engagement of female inventors.

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY, CARBON EMISSIONS, AND FEMALE INVENTORS

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