Green Finance and Green Innovation of Enterprises

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the carbon neutrality strategy, the key issue remains how green finance can boost enterprise green innovation and social transformation. The paper introduces the policy of Pilot Zones for Green Finance Reform and Innovations (“the PZGFRI Policy”) announced in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment and probes into whether green finance has a significant impact on enterprise green innovation as well as its mechanism based on the green patent data of China’s A-share listed companies in the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2019. The paper reaches the conclusion that the PZGFRI Policy has significantly promoted the green innovation of enterprises. In terms of heterogeneity of enterprise characteristics, it generates greater impacts on non-polluting firms, large-scale enterprises, and state-owned companies. For the heterogeneity of the financial environment, the PZGFRI Policy provides more benefits for those in regions with less competitive banks. As for the mechanism, green finance advances enterprise green innovation by increasing the proportion of long-term loans of enterprises and improving their debt structure. However, evidence related to financing cost channels has not yet been found. Continued improvement of the green financial system is preferred. Further, green finance should be encouraged to play an important role in the green transformation of society, the realization of carbon neutrality goals, and long-term ecological conservation.

Keywords

green finance / enterprise green innovation / difference-in-differences model (DID model) / debt structure

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