Research on the Impact of Energy Efficiency on Firm Performance Based on the Mediating Effect of the Level of Green Innovation

Against the backdrop of global environmental change and China's "dual carbon" goal, enhancing energy efficiency is vital for enterprises' low-carbon development. This empirical investigation selects 51 A-share listed enterprises within the energy sector as the research sample, spanning a time frame from 2013 to 2023, measures their energy consumption and green innovation, and analyzes the impact of energy efficiency on enterprise performance and the role of green innovation by constructing regression models and mediating effect models. The empirical findings demonstrate that energy efficiency exerts a statistically significant positive impact on corporate performance, with green innovation serving as a mediating mechanism in this relationship. Specifically, a 1% increase in energy efficiency can drive a 0. 069% improvement in enterprise performance, and green innovation can further amplify this effect by 0. 113%. The heterogeneity analysis finds that the regression coefficient of energy efficiency in state-owned enterprises is 0. 103 (highly significant with a 1% significance criterion), while that in non-state-owned enterprises is -0. 050 and not significant; The regression coefficient of energy efficiency in central region enterprises is 0. 111 (significant at the 1% level), while the coefficients in eastern and western regions are negative. This study innovates the measurement system of energy efficiency by converting various energy consumptions into standard coal, deepens the investigation into the mediating mechanism of green innovation with patent application data as the index, and discusses the heterogeneity of property rights and regions, providing theoretical and practical references for enterprises to optimize energy structure and governments to formulate policies.