IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v98y2021ics0140988321000396.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can the green credit policy stimulate green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

Author

Listed:
  • Hu, Guoqiang
  • Wang, Xiaoqi
  • Wang, Yu

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of the green credit policy (GCP) on green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises (HPEs) using the promulgation of the “Green Credit Guidelines” (2012 Guidelines) policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment. The findings show that the 2012 Guidelines have had a positive and significant effect on the green patent output of HPEs, especially HPEs under stronger financial constraints. Furthermore, this positive effect occurred predominantly in HPEs with higher expected sunk costs or noncompliance costs, more intense product market competition, and state ownership. These results suggest that the GCP can stimulate green innovation in HPEs by exerting credit constraints, thus achieving green transformation in an emerging economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Guoqiang & Wang, Xiaoqi & Wang, Yu, 2021. "Can the green credit policy stimulate green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:98:y:2021:i:c:s0140988321000396
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988321000396
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105134?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yu Shi & Lei Gong & Jin Chen, 2019. "The Effect of Financing on Firm Innovation: Multiple Case Studies on Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 863-888, March.
    2. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1992. "Liquidation Values and Debt Capacity: A Market Equilibrium Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1343-1366, September.
    4. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    5. Joe S. Bain, 1951. "Relation of Profit Rate to Industry Concentration: American Manufacturing, 1936–1940," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 65(3), pages 293-324.
    6. Benfratello, Luigi & Schiantarelli, Fabio & Sembenelli, Alessandro, 2008. "Banks and innovation: Microeconometric evidence on Italian firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 197-217, November.
    7. Wagner, Marcus, 2007. "On the relationship between environmental management, environmental innovation and patenting: Evidence from German manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1587-1602, December.
    8. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    9. Holmström, Bengt, 1989. "Agency Costs and Innovation," Working Paper Series 214, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    10. Pizer, William A. & Popp, David, 2008. "Endogenizing technological change: Matching empirical evidence to modeling needs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 2754-2770, November.
    11. Liu, Xinghe & Wang, Enxian & Cai, Danting, 2019. "Green credit policy, property rights and debt financing: Quasi-natural experimental evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 129-135.
    12. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    13. Yan, Zheming & Zou, Baoling & Du, Kerui & Li, Ke, 2020. "Do renewable energy technology innovations promote China's green productivity growth? Fresh evidence from partially linear functional-coefficient models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Fariñas, Jose C. & Ruano, Sonia, 2005. "Firm productivity, heterogeneity, sunk costs and market selection," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(7-8), pages 505-534, September.
    15. Gollop, Frank M & Roberts, Mark J, 1983. "Environmental Regulations and Productivity Growth: The Case of Fossil-Fueled Electric Power Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 654-674, August.
    16. Amore, Mario Daniele & Schneider, Cédric & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2013. "Credit supply and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 835-855.
    17. Qingma Dong & Shuyang Wen & Xiliang Liu, 2020. "Credit Allocation, Pollution, and Sustainable Growth: Theory and Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(12), pages 2793-2811, September.
    18. Xiuhong Qin & Guoliang Huang & Huayu Shen & Mengyao Fu, 2020. "COVID-19 Pandemic and Firm-level Cash Holding—Moderating Effect of Goodwill and Goodwill Impairment," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2243-2258, August.
    19. Stucki, Tobias & Woerter, Martin & Arvanitis, Spyros & Peneder, Michael & Rammer, Christian, 2018. "How different policy instruments affect green product innovation: A differentiated perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 245-261.
    20. Hu, Jiangfeng & Pan, Xinxin & Huang, Qinghua, 2020. "Quantity or quality? The impacts of environmental regulation on firms’ innovation–Quasi-natural experiment based on China's carbon emissions trading pilot," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    21. Gray, Wayne B. & Shadbegian, Ronald J., 2003. "Plant vintage, technology, and environmental regulation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 384-402, November.
    22. Yanjian Zhu, 2019. "Banks’ Governance and Innovation: Evidence from the Listed Firms in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(11), pages 2409-2424, September.
    23. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    24. Shuai Shao & Zhigao Hu & Jianhua Cao & Lili Yang & Dabo Guan, 2020. "Environmental Regulation and Enterprise Innovation: A Review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1465-1478, March.
    25. Wen Ming & Zhengqing Zhou & Hongshan Ai & Huimin Bi & Yuan Zhong, 2020. "COVID-19 and Air Quality: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2422-2442, August.
    26. Chen Feng & Beibei Shi & Rong Kang, 2017. "Does Environmental Policy Reduce Enterprise Innovation?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-24, May.
    27. Shi, Beibei & Feng, Chen & Qiu, Meng & Ekeland, Anders, 2018. "Innovation suppression and migration effect: The unintentional consequences of environmental regulation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-23.
    28. Ling-Yun He & Li Liu, 2018. "Stand by or Follow? Responsibility Diffusion Effects and Green Credit," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(8), pages 1740-1760, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi, Xiulin & Wu, Zhifang & Xu, Jinqing & Shan, Biaoan, 2023. "Environmental justice and green innovation: A quasi-natural experiment based on the establishment of environmental courts in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Huang, Hongyun & Mbanyele, William & Wang, Fengrong & Song, Malin & Wang, Yuzhang, 2022. "Climbing the quality ladder of green innovation: Does green finance matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. He, Yiqing & Ding, Xin & Yang, Chuchu, 2021. "Do environmental regulations and financial constraints stimulate corporate technological innovation? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Huacheng Rao & Dongxu Chen & Feichao Shen & Yangyang Shen, 2022. "Can Green Bonds Stimulate Green Innovation in Enterprises? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Mao, Yifei, 2021. "Managing innovation: The role of collateral," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).
    6. Zhou, Peng & Song, Frank M. & Huang, Xiaoqi, 2023. "Environmental regulations and firms' green innovations: Transforming pressure into incentives," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Hou, Qingsong & Hu, May & Yuan, Yuan, 2017. "Corporate innovation and political connections in Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA), pages 158-176.
    8. Çağatay Bircan & Ralph De Haas, 2020. "The Limits of Lending? Banks and Technology Adoption across Russia," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 536-609.
    9. Danlin Shen & Carl R. Chen & Xinyan Yan & Zhihong Yi, 2022. "Do credit market accessibility and legal protection shape corporate innovation?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(3), pages 719-754, September.
    10. Lai, Shaojie & Yang, Laifeng & Wang, Qing & Anderson, Hamish D., 2023. "Judicial independence and corporate innovation: Evidence from the establishment of circuit courts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. Ross Levine & Chen Lin & Lai Wei, 2017. "Insider Trading and Innovation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(4), pages 749-800.
    12. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Sensoy, Ahmet & Liao, Jing & Xie, Xiaochen, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and green innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    13. Wang, Rui & Yang, Shijie, 2023. "Credit ratings and firm innovation: Evidence from sovereign downgrades," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    14. Cornaggia, Jess & Mao, Yifei & Tian, Xuan & Wolfe, Brian, 2015. "Does banking competition affect innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 189-209.
    15. Xu, Le & Yang, Lili & Li, Ding & Shao, Shuai, 2023. "Asymmetric effects of heterogeneous environmental standards on green technology innovation: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    16. Huang, Zhi-xiong & Yang, Xiandong, 2021. "Carbon emissions and firm innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 503-513.
    17. Xu, Shengxiang & Chen, Hsinghung & Dong, Shuli & Guo, Zizheng, 2023. "Can upgrading information infrastructure improve the innovation ability of companies? Empirical evidence from China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    18. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    19. Sudheer Chava & Vikram Nanda & Steven Chong Xiao, 2017. "Lending to Innovative Firms," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 234-289.
    20. Chen Hu & Yanan Li & Penghao Ye, 2023. "The Halo Effect of Government: Does State-Owned Capital Promote the Green Innovation of Chinese Private Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green credit policy; Green innovation; Heavily polluting company; Financial constraints; Porter hypothesis; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:98:y:2021:i:c:s0140988321000396. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.