Assessing the Influence of Open Innovation among Chinese Cities on Enterprise Carbon Emissions

Currently, China is the largest carbon emitter and the pressure of carbon reduction in China is very severe. However, the lack of technological innovation momentum is a bottleneck factor that restricts carbon reduction in Chinese cities. In this context, open innovation is gradually replacing closed innovation and playing an increasingly important role in improving the technological innovation performance of enterprises. Analysis shows that a large amount of literature has explored the impacts of industry technological innovation and green technology innovation on carbon emissions, while there is little research on how open innovation affects carbon emissions. This study calculates cities’ open innovation indicators and the carbon emission intensity indicators of listed enterprises. Using a three-fixed-effects model, it examines the effect and mechanism of open innovation on carbon emissions of enterprises and verifies the heterogeneity effect. The research results indicate that open innovation can significantly reduce the carbon emission intensity of enterprises by reducing transaction costs and upgrading the industrial structure. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that open innovation has an obvious carbon emission reduction effect on non-state-owned, polluting, small- and medium-sized enterprises and enterprises in central cities.