Risk or Opportunity: The Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Technological Innovation in Energy Enterprises

Technological innovation in energy enterprises constitutes a pivotal component in realizing the transition to a green economy. In recent years, the complexity and volatility of the international economic landscape have significantly amplified economic policy uncertainty (EPU) across nations, which is poised to exert a profound influence on the technological innovation activities of energy enterprises. This study employs the Tobit regression method to investigate the relationship between EPU and corporate technological innovation (CTI), based on data from Chinese listed energy companies spanning the period of 2007 to 2018. Empirical results indicate that EPU exerts a significant positive influence on technological innovation for energy enterprises. Furthermore, we employed a Fisher permutation test to further elucidate the heterogeneity of this impact across various sub-industries, enterprise ownership types, and governance mechanisms. Specifically, EPU has a more pronounced promoting effect on technological innovation for traditional energy enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises, and enterprises with high failure tolerance. Against the backdrop of increasing global EPU, the findings of this study offer certain implications for governmental industrial policies and corporate governance mechanisms.