IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v143y2025ics0140988325000799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Characteristics of green loan users and the green policy mix

Author

Listed:
  • Sobiech, Anna L.
  • Uchida, Hirofumi

Abstract

We analyse the usage of government-sponsored green loans under a feed-in-tariffs scheme and document a positive link with borrower financial health. Green loan users have better credit ratings, higher sales growth, and lower leverage. The link remains stable in face of significantly changing conditions for green investments and heightened policy uncertainty. Green loan users exhibit better ex-post performance and lower default probability. Results are in line with the notion that the screening undertaken by the lender matters for efficient green loan provision and highlight the important role of public loan programs in the green policy mix.

Suggested Citation

  • Sobiech, Anna L. & Uchida, Hirofumi, 2025. "Characteristics of green loan users and the green policy mix," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:143:y:2025:i:c:s0140988325000799
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988325000799
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108256?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Denis, David J. & Mihov, Vassil T., 2003. "The choice among bank debt, non-bank private debt, and public debt: evidence from new corporate borrowings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 3-28, October.
    2. Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2018. "Financing renewable energy: Who is financing what and why it matters," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-22.
    3. Behr, Patrick & Norden, Lars & Noth, Felix, 2013. "Financial constraints of private firms and bank lending behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3472-3485.
    4. Cantillo, Miguel & Wright, Julian, 2000. "How Do Firms Choose Their Lenders? An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 155-189.
    5. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Government Ownership of Banks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 265-301, February.
    6. Alolo, Mutaka & Azevedo, Alcino & El Kalak, Izidin, 2020. "The effect of the feed-in-system policy on renewable energy investments: Evidence from the EU countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Micco, Alejandro & Panizza, Ugo, 2006. "Bank ownership and lending behavior," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 248-254, November.
    8. Lone Werner & Bert Scholtens, 2017. "Firm Type, Feed-in Tariff, and Wind Energy Investment in Germany: An Investigation of Decision Making Factors of Energy Producers Regarding Investing in Wind Energy Capacity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(2), pages 402-411, April.
    9. Ritzenhofen, Ingmar & Spinler, Stefan, 2016. "Optimal design of feed-in-tariffs to stimulate renewable energy investments under regulatory uncertainty — A real options analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 76-89.
    10. Cicchiello, Antonella Francesca & Cotugno, Matteo & Monferrà, Stefano & Perdichizzi, Salvatore, 2022. "Which are the factors influencing green bonds issuance? Evidence from the European bonds market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    11. Brei, Michael & Schclarek, Alfredo, 2013. "Public bank lending in times of crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 820-830.
    12. Neuhoff, Karsten & May, Nils & Richstein, Jörn C., 2022. "Financing renewables in the age of falling technology costs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Mariana Mazzucato, 2015. "The Green Entrepreneurial State," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-28, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    14. Tang, Dragon Yongjun & Zhang, Yupu, 2020. "Do shareholders benefit from green bonds?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Yener Altunbas & Alper Kara & David Marques-Ibanez, 2010. "Large debt financing: syndicated loans versus corporate bonds," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 437-458.
    16. Polzin, Friedemann & Egli, Florian & Steffen, Bjarne & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2019. "How do policies mobilize private finance for renewable energy?—A systematic review with an investor perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1249-1268.
    17. Flammer, Caroline, 2021. "Corporate green bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 499-516.
    18. Özlem Dursun-de Neef & Steven Ongena & Gergana Tsonkova, 2022. "Green versus sustainable loans: The impact on firms’ ESG performance," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 22-42, Swiss Finance Institute.
    19. Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus & Abu-Bakar, Siti Hawa & Munir, Abu Bakar & Mohd Yasin, Siti Hajar & Ramirez-Iniguez, Roberto & McMeekin, Scott G. & Stewart, Brian G. & Sarmah, Nabin & Mallick, Tapas Kumar & , 2014. "Feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic: The rise of Japan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 636-643.
    20. Isaac Akomea-Frimpong & David Adeabah & Deborah Ofosu & Emmanuel Junior Tenakwah, 2022. "A review of studies on green finance of banks, research gaps and future directions," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 1241-1264, October.
    21. Berger, Allen N. & Clarke, George R.G. & Cull, Robert & Klapper, Leora & Udell, Gregory F., 2005. "Corporate governance and bank performance: A joint analysis of the static, selection, and dynamic effects of domestic, foreign, and state ownership," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(8-9), pages 2179-2221, August.
    22. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    23. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    24. Accetturo, Antonio & Barboni, Giorgia & Cascarano, Michele & Garcia-Appendini, Emilia & Tomasi, Marco, 2022. "Credit supply and green Investments," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 615, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    25. Mariana Mazzucato & Caetano C.R. Penna, 2016. "Beyond market failures: the market creating and shaping roles of state investment banks," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 305-326, October.
    26. Berg, Tobias & Carletti, Elena & Claessens, Stijn & Krahnen, Jan Pieter & Monasterolo, Irene & Pagano, Marco, 2023. "Climate regulation and financial risk: The challenge of policy uncertainty," SAFE Policy Letters 100, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    27. Mariana Mazzucato & Caetano C.R. Penna, 2016. "Beyond market failures: the market creating and shaping roles of state investment banks," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 305-326, October.
    28. Chu, Ling & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2022. "The non-operating solar projects: Examining the impact of the feed-in tariff amendment in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    29. Daniel Carvalho, 2014. "The Real Effects of Government-Owned Banks: Evidence from an Emerging Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(2), pages 577-609, April.
    30. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    31. Zhang, M.M. & Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Dequn & Ding, H., 2019. "Evaluating uncertain investment decisions in low-carbon transition toward renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 1049-1060.
    32. Kiso, Takahiko & Chan, H. Ron & Arino, Yosuke, 2022. "Contrasting effects of electricity prices on retrofit and new-build installations of solar PV: Fukushima as a natural experiment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    33. Geddes, Anna & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Steffen, Bjarne, 2018. "The multiple roles of state investment banks in low-carbon energy finance: An analysis of Australia, the UK and Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 158-170.
    34. Michael Schwert, 2018. "Bank Capital and Lending Relationships," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(2), pages 787-830, April.
    35. Degryse, Hans & Goncharenko, Roman & Theunisz, Carola & Vadasz, Tamas, 2023. "When green meets green," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    36. Newton, David P. & Ongena, Steven & Xie, Ru & Zhao, Binru, 2022. "Banks vs. markets: Are banks more effective in facilitating sustainability?," BOFIT Discussion Papers 5/2022, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    37. Mortha, Aline & Yajima, Naonari & Arimura, Toshi H., 2024. "Impact of the feed-in-tariff exemption on energy consumption in Japanese industrial plants," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    38. Alharbi, Samar S. & Al Mamun, Md & Boubaker, Sabri & Rizvi, Syed Kumail Abbas, 2023. "Green finance and renewable energy: A worldwide evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    39. David Newton & Steven Ongena & Ru Xie & Binru Zhao, 2022. "Banks vs. Markets: Are Banks More Effective in Facilitating Sustainability?," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 22-22, Swiss Finance Institute.
    40. repec:zbw:bofitp:2022_005 is not listed on IDEAS
    41. Houston, Joel & James, Christopher, 1996. "Bank Information Monopolies and the Mix of Private and Public Debt Claims," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(5), pages 1863-1889, December.
    42. Ding, Hao & Zhou, Dequn & Zhou, P., 2020. "Optimal policy supports for renewable energy technology development: A dynamic programming model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    43. Coleman, Nicholas & Feler, Leo, 2015. "Bank ownership, lending, and local economic performance during the 2008–2009 financial crisis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 50-66.
    44. Wen, Daoyuan & Gao, Weijun & Kuroki, Soichiro & Gu, Qunyin & Ren, Jianxing, 2021. "The effects of the new Feed-In Tariff Act for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in the wake of the Fukushima accident in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    45. Yugo Tanaka & Andrew Chapman & Shigeki Sakurai & Tetsuo Tezuka, 2017. "Feed-in Tariff Pricing and Social Burden in Japan: Evaluating International Learning through a Policy Transfer Approach," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-16, October.
    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. Waidelich, Paul & Steffen, Bjarne, 2024. "Renewable energy financing by state investment banks: Evidence from OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Randall Morck & M. Deniz Yavuz & Bernard Yeung, 2019. "State-Run Banks, Money Growth, and the Real Economy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(12), pages 5914-5932, December.
    3. D’Orazio, Paola & Valente, Marco, 2019. "The role of finance in environmental innovation diffusion: An evolutionary modeling approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 417-439.
    4. Denis Davydov, 2018. "Does State Ownership of Banks Matter?," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 17(2), pages 250-285, August.
    5. Clò, Stefano & Frigerio, Marco & Vandone, Daniela, 2022. "Financial support to innovation: The role of European development financial institutions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    6. Polzin, Friedemann & Sanders, Mark, 2020. "How to finance the transition to low-carbon energy in Europe?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    7. Bertay, Ata Can & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Huizinga, Harry, 2015. "Bank ownership and credit over the business cycle: Is lending by state banks less procyclical?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 326-339.
    8. Petreski, Aleksandar & Schäfer, Dorothea & Stephan, Andreas, 2022. "Green bonds' reputation effect and its impact on the financing costs of the real estate sector," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1182, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Ogura, Yoshiaki, 2018. "The objective function of government-controlled banks in a financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 78-93.
    10. Gregor Semieniuk & Emanuele Campiglio & Jean‐Francois Mercure & Ulrich Volz & Neil R. Edwards, 2021. "Low‐carbon transition risks for finance," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), January.
    11. Mac Clay, Pablo & Börner, Jan & Sellare, Jorge, 2023. "Institutional and macroeconomic stability mediate the effect of auctions on renewable energy capacity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    12. Petreski, Aleksandar & Schäfer, Dorothea & Stephan, Andreas, 2023. "The reputation effect of green bond issuance and its impact on the cost of capital," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 493, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    13. Panizza, Ugo, 2024. "Bank ownership around the world," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    14. Briera, Thibault & Lefèvre, Julien, 2024. "Reducing the cost of capital through international climate finance to accelerate the renewable energy transition in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    15. Davydov, Denis & Nikkinen, Jussi & Vähämaa, Sami, 2014. "Does the decision to issue public debt affect firm valuation? Russian evidence," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 136-151.
    16. Léon, Florian, 2023. "Public bank lending in Africa in times of crisis," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    17. Thomas Baldauf & Patrick Jochem, 2024. "Project finance or corporate finance for renewable energy? an agent-based insight," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 19(4), pages 759-805, October.
    18. Pessarossi, Pierre & Weill, Laurent, 2013. "Choice of corporate debt in China: The role of state ownership," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-16.
    19. Behr, Patrick & Foos, Daniel & Norden, Lars, 2017. "Cyclicality of SME lending and government involvement in banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 64-77.
    20. Kanda, Joana F. & Pinto, João M. & Silva, Beatriz P., 2025. "The ECB’s APP’s impact on non-financial firms’ cost of borrowing and debt choice," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green loans; Public loan programs; Loan screening; Feed-in-tariffs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    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:143:y:2025:i:c:s0140988325000799. 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.