IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v89y2026icp196-213.html

How can green finance enhance urban ecological resilience? Dual evidence from theoretical modeling and empirical tests

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Shuoshuo
  • Zheng, Junhui
  • Lee, Chien-Chiang

Abstract

Global climate change has heightened ecological risks in urban areas, making urban ecological resilience (UER) a key pathway to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study develops a theoretical economic growth model integrating green finance (GF) and UER and empirically examines their relationship using panel data for Chinese cities from 2006 to 2022. The results indicate that a 1 % increase in GF is associated with a 0.019-point rise in UER, which is significant at the 1 % level, and this relationship remains robust across multiple empirical specifications. Mechanism analysis shows that GF enhances UER primarily through green technology innovation, green total factor productivity, and green total factor energy efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the effect is more pronounced in Eastern and Central China, in pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations, and in non-smart cities. These findings highlight the stabilizing role of GF in fostering UER and suggest that expanding green credit and bond markets, integrating green growth with smart city development, and tailoring region-specific policies can jointly support climate adaptation and the SDGs.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Shuoshuo & Zheng, Junhui & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2026. "How can green finance enhance urban ecological resilience? Dual evidence from theoretical modeling and empirical tests," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 196-213.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:89:y:2026:i:c:p:196-213
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.11.029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S031359262500476X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2025.11.029?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

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:ecanpo:v:89:y:2026:i:c:p:196-213. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    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.