Does Green Financial Policy Promote Corporate Green Innovations?Evidences from the Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones

Abstract

Abstract: Taking the green finance reform and innovation pilot zones set up in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment,this paper uses the green patent data of the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies in the heavily polluting industries in China from 2014 to 2020 to explore the impact of the green finance pilot policy on the corporate green innovations with the double difference method. The findings show that the green finance pilot policy is conducive to improving the green innovation activity of the enterprises. For enterprises with higher pollution emission intensity, the green innovation incentive effect of the policy is more obvious. Corporate reputation risk and financing convenience are the two important channels for the policy to improve the activity of green innovation ofenterprises. The above conclusions are more significant in the samples of non-state-owned enterprises, with higher degree of dependence on external financing and with weaker environmental regulations. This research conclusion not only provides empirical evidences for the implementation effect of thegreen finance pilot policy,but also has practical significance for improving the green finance system and replicating and promoting the green finance reform and innovation pilot zones.

Key words: green finance, green innovation, reputational risk, financing convenience, DID model

QI Huai-jin, LIU Si-qin. Does Green Financial Policy Promote Corporate Green Innovations?Evidences from the Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones[J]. JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY FINANCE AND ECONOMICS, 2023, 0(2): 110-122.

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