Environmental regulations can take many forms, from command and control to market-oriented regulations, but their success commonly depends on the active participation of the target. This study surveyed all companies in the Republic of Korea implementing national level emission trading system (ETS) to examine how external conditions and internal perceptions determine companies' response and technology development as against to ETS. It may be the first study to examine the relationships among the objective data (allocation and emissions), characteristics of company (size, employment, sector, and financials) and person in charge of ETS within company (division and position) and companies' perceptions. The results showed that fine allocation design alone does not lead companies to invest in reduction technology. Rather, companies’ perceptions drive the holistic response to ETS and technology investment. In addition, large emitters engaged more actively in ETS, but their holistic response was far from increasing investment in reduction technology. The goals of ETS—cost-effective reduction and green investment—can be best achieved through policy design that takes into account internal awareness, motivation, technology support, and pricing management.

环境法规可以采取多种形式，从命令和控制到以市场为导向的法规，但其成功通常取决于目标的积极参与。这项研究对韩国实施国家一级排放交易系统（ETS）的所有公司进行了调查，以研究外部条件和内部看法如何决定公司对ETS的反应和技术发展。这可能是第一个研究客观数据（分配和排放），公司特征（规模，就业，部门和财务状况）以及公司内ETS负责人（部门和职位）与公司看法之间的关系的研究。 。结果表明，仅精细分配设计并不会导致公司投资于减排技术。而是 公司的看法推动了对ETS和技术投资的整体反应。此外，大型排放国更积极地参与碳排放交易体系，但它们的整体反应远未增加对减排技术的投资。通过考虑内部意识，动机，技术支持和价格管理的政策设计，可以最好地实现ETS的目标-降低成本效益和绿色投资。