Driving green development: The influence of green credit and informatization-industrialization integration on reducing corporate carbon emissions

Green credit and new-type industrialization have become critical engines for enterprises to reduce carbon emissions, injecting fresh vitality into promoting low-carbon transformation. Addressing environmental pollution and carbon emissions is an urgent contemporary challenge for corporate development. This study examines listed enterprises from 2008 to 2021, using a quasi-natural experiment based on China's Green Credit Guidelines and the integration of informatization and industrialization pilot policy. We employ a difference-in-differences model to verify the dual-policy effects of green credit and new-type industrialization on corporate carbon emissions. The findings reveal that green credit and new-type industrialization significantly reduce corporate carbon emissions. Mechanism tests indicate that these policies advance emissions reduction by fostering green innovation, enhancing corporate investment, and lowering corporate debt financing costs. Furthermore, moderating effect tests demonstrate that the inhibitory effects of green credit and new-type industrialization on corporate carbon emissions are more pronounced for companies with executives that have environmental backgrounds and those with lower corporate policy uncertainty. Heterogeneity tests reveal that green credit's inhibitory effect on corporate carbon emissions is stronger in eastern and central regions, for nonstate-owned enterprises, and for those in high-tech and nonheavy pollution industries. The conclusions of this study deepen the understanding of the synergistic effects of green credit and new-type industrialization on corporate carbon emissions reduction. They also provide valuable policy support for local governments to promote low-carbon transformation and sustainable development by advancing green credit and new-type industrialization.