This paper focuses on the optimal strategic choice of carbon trading and carbon reduction technology investment under the cap-and-trade system. We consider a carbon-dependent production enterprise that trades carbon emission rights or invests in carbon reduction technologies under the regulation of the cap-and-trade system. The enterprise undertakes corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and aims to maximize the comprehensive benefits of both the economy and the environment. Using numerical simulation, we analyze the impacts of the CER coefficient and initial carbon quotas on the comprehensive benefits, optimal emission reduction rate, and production quantity of the enterprise. Our main contribution is studying the low-carbon strategic option for CER production enterprises to maximize the comprehensive benefits by trading carbon emission permits or investing in carbon emission reduction technologies. We found that the carbon emission trading mechanism plays an important role in promoting enterprises to reduce carbon emissions and is a beneficial supplement to the carbon cap policy. Under different initial carbon quotas allocated by the government, the manufacturer strategically chooses to trade carbon emission rights or invest in carbon reduction technologies. CER is a significant factor in encouraging companies to reduce carbon emissions proactively.

It aims to study the production and emission reduction decisions of production enterprises under carbon constraints. In the case of carbon constraints in production, manufacturers have four strategic choices: production within the carbon quota, adopting emission reduction technologies, purchasing carbon emission rights, and using emission reduction technologies and purchasing carbon emission rights. Based on the income model of production enterprises under four different strategies, first, under the condition of maximizing the interests of production enterprises, the optimal profit, optimal production, optimal total carbon emission, and optimal emission reduction rate under different carbon constraints are determined, and summarize its laws. Afterward, in order to further optimize corporate profits, the impact of changes in the carbon reduction scale cost and consumers’ low-carbon preference was studied. Several important conclusions are shown as follows. First, the stricter the carbon constraint policy, the greater the optimal emission reduction rate of enterprises. Second, the adoption of emission reduction technology can effectively reduce the impact of carbon constraint on output. Third, the optimal strategy is to both reduce emissions and purchase carbon emission rights, which can realize environmental economic dividends. Fourth, the lower the cost factor of the carbon reduction scale and the higher the low-carbon preference of consumers, the easier it is for firms to achieve carbon sufficiency in their production.