IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i10p8290-d1150892.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Green Credit Policy, Environmental Investment, and Green Innovation: Quasi-Natural Experimental Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhiliang Xu

    (School of Business, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Changxin Xu

    (School of Business, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Yun Li

    (School of Business, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

Abstract

In order to explore whether green credit policy can guide the green transformation of heavily polluting firms, we examine the influence of green credit policy on green innovation. Further, we analyze the mediating effect of environmental investment and the moderating effect of type of ownership and green finance development level in this relationship. Findings from the DID model indicate that the Green Credit Guidelines led to a significant increase in green innovation at heavily polluting enterprises, both quantitatively and qualitatively, with environmental investment acting as partial mediators. Further, the positive influence of green credit policy is more substantial in state-owned firms and in regions with high levels of green finance development. Findings are robust and remain valid after different sensitivity tests, including the improved PSM-DID model and the elimination of interference from some samples to address the sample selection bias existing in the DID model.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhiliang Xu & Changxin Xu & Yun Li, 2023. "Green Credit Policy, Environmental Investment, and Green Innovation: Quasi-Natural Experimental Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8290-:d:1150892
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8290/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8290/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    2. Zhang, Shengling & Wu, Zihao & He, Yinan & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does the green credit policy affect the technological innovation of enterprises? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    4. Chang, Xin & Chen, Yangyang & Wang, Sarah Qian & Zhang, Kuo & Zhang, Wenrui, 2019. "Credit default swaps and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 474-500.
    5. Wayne B. Gray & Ronald J. Shadbegian, 1998. "Environmental Regulation, Investment Timing, and Technology Choice," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 235-256, June.
    6. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2016. "Corporate governance and green innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-72.
    7. Weber, Thomas A. & Neuhoff, Karsten, 2010. "Carbon markets and technological innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 115-132, September.
    8. Muhammad Atif & Md. Samsul Alam & Mohammed Hossain, 2020. "Firm sustainable investment: Are female directors greener?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3449-3469, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Shao-Zhou Qi & Chao-Bo Zhou & Kai Li & Si-Yan Tang, 2021. "Influence of a pilot carbon trading policy on enterprises’ low-carbon innovation in China," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 318-336, March.
    11. Johnstone, Nick & Managi, Shunsuke & Rodríguez, Miguel Cárdenas & Haščič, Ivan & Fujii, Hidemichi & Souchier, Martin, 2017. "Environmental policy design, innovation and efficiency gains in electricity generation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 106-115.
    12. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2009. "Unemployment and self‐assessed health: evidence from panel data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 161-179, February.
    13. Li Chang & Wenjing Li & Xiaoyan Lu, 2015. "Government Engagement, Environmental Policy, and Environmental Performance: Evidence from the Most Polluting Chinese Listed Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Carrion-Flores, Carmen E. & Innes, Robert & Sam, Abdoul G., 2006. "Do Voluntary Pollution Reduction Programs (VPRs) Spur Innovation in Environmental Technology," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21124, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    15. Xiang Ma & Young-Seok Ock & Fengpei Wu & Zhenyang Zhang, 2022. "The Effect of Internal Control on Green Innovation: Corporate Environmental Investment as a Mediator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-19, February.
    16. Gray, Wayne B & Shadbegian, Ronald J, 1998. "Environmental Regulation, Investment Timing, and Technology Choice," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 235-256, June.
    17. Jiayue Liu & Jing Xie, 2020. "Environmental Regulation, Technological Innovation, and Export Competitiveness: An Empirical Study Based on China’s Manufacturing Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-19, February.
    18. Feng Wang & Siyue Yang & Ann Reisner & Na Liu, 2019. "Does Green Credit Policy Work in China? The Correlation between Green Credit and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, January.
    19. Philipp Krueger & Zacharias Sautner & Laura T Starks, 2020. "The Importance of Climate Risks for Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1067-1111.
    20. Usama Awan & Marlen Gabriele Arnold & Ismail Gölgeci, 2021. "Enhancing green product and process innovation: Towards an integrative framework of knowledge acquisition and environmental investment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1283-1295, February.
    21. Sophie A Shive & Margaret M Forster & Jose Scheinkman, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Pollution Externalities of Public and Private Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1296-1330.
    22. Yingyuan Guo & Xingneng Xia & Sheng Zhang & Danping Zhang, 2018. "Environmental Regulation, Government R&D Funding and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from China Provincial Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, March.
    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. Zhice Cheng & Xinyuan Chen & Huwei Wen, 2022. "How Does Environmental Protection Tax Affect Corporate Environmental Investment? Evidence from Chinese Listed Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Da Gao & Xinlin Mo & Kun Duan & Yi Li, 2022. "Can Green Credit Policy Promote Firms’ Green Innovation? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Yi Chen & Zhongwen Xu & Xuehao Wang & Yining Yang, 2023. "How does green credit policy improve corporate social responsibility in China? An analysis based on carbon‐intensive listed firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 889-904, March.
    4. Lídia Farré & Francesco Fasani & Hannes Mueller, 2018. "Feeling useless: the effect of unemployment on mental health in the Great Recession," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-34, December.
    5. Guo, Shu & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2023. "Green credit policy and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    6. Ge Zhang & Yuxiang Gao & Gaoyong Li, 2023. "Research on Digital Transformation and Green Technology Innovation—Evidence from China’s Listed Manufacturing Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Everding, Jakob & Marcus, Jan, 2020. "The effect of unemployment on the smoking behavior of couples," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 154-170.
    8. Tang, Chang & Xu, Yuanyuan & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan, 2021. "What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Michael Greenstone & John A. List & Chad Syverson, 2011. "The Effects of Environmental Regulation on the Competiveness of U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 11-03, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    11. Picchio, Matteo & Ubaldi, Michele, 2022. "Unemployment and Health: A Meta-Analysis," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1128, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    13. Terhi Maczulskij & Petri Böckerman, 2019. "Harsh times: do stressors lead to labor market losses?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(3), pages 357-373, April.
    14. Zhijun Feng & Bo Zeng & Qian Ming, 2018. "Environmental Regulation, Two-Way Foreign Direct Investment, and Green Innovation Efficiency in China’s Manufacturing Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-22, October.
    15. Jan Marcus, 2014. "Does Job Loss Make You Smoke and Gain Weight?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(324), pages 626-648, October.
    16. Qiang Qiu & Jinyue Yu, 2023. "Impact of independent director network on corporate green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 3271-3293, November.
    17. Huang, Xiaoqi & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Zhan & Zhao, Zhihui, 2022. "Intensive judicial oversight and corporate green innovations: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    18. 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).
    19. Huang, Xiaoqi & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Zhan & Zou, Xinyu & Li, Pujuan, 2023. "Quantity or quality: Environmental legislation and corporate green innovations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PB).
    20. Salokangas, Henri & Böckerman, Petri & Huikari, Sanna & Korhonen, Marko & Korpelainen, Raija & Svento, Rauli, 2022. "Did the Finnish depression of the early 1990s have a silver lining? The effect of unemployment on long-term physical activity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8290-:d:1150892. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.