IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v78y2025ics1544612325004027.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local government debt, digital finance and climate change: Study from the perspective of green innovation

Author

Listed:
  • He, Yiqi
  • Hou, Yuxuan
  • Song, Xinyi
  • Chen, Xi

Abstract

In the context of the rapid development of the digital economy, exploring the link between local government debt and climate change is vital. Using data on China's provincial carbon emissions and local debt from 2012 to 2021, this study empirically explored the influence and mechanism between the two. The findings suggest that China must continue minimizing local government debt and mitigating climate change by avoiding the pollution caused by the use of digital finance and increasing the level of green innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Yiqi & Hou, Yuxuan & Song, Xinyi & Chen, Xi, 2025. "Local government debt, digital finance and climate change: Study from the perspective of green innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325004027
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107139
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325004027
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107139?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Yuting & Wen, Wen & Bao, Rui, 2024. "Carbon emission right circulation and corporate green innovation: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    2. Pengpeng Yue & Aslihan Gizem Korkmaz & Zhichao Yin & Haigang Zhou, 2022. "The rise of digital finance: Financial inclusion or debt trap," Papers 2201.09221, arXiv.org.
    3. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Zhang, Dayong & Chen, Shi & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    4. Rubo Zhao & Yixiang Tian & Ao Lei & Francis Boadu & Ze Ren, 2019. "The Effect of Local Government Debt on Regional Economic Growth in China: A Nonlinear Relationship Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, May.
    5. Chandran Govindaraju, V.G.R. & Tang, Chor Foon, 2013. "The dynamic links between CO2 emissions, economic growth and coal consumption in China and India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 310-318.
    6. Zhou, Linjiang & Shi, Xiaochuan & Bao, Yaxiong & Gao, Lihua & Ma, Chao, 2023. "Explainable artificial intelligence for digital finance and consumption upgrading," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    7. Wang, Juxian & Ma, Mengdi & Dong, Tianyi & Zhang, Zheyuan, 2023. "Do ESG ratings promote corporate green innovation? A quasi-natural experiment based on SynTao Green Finance's ESG ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2012. "An International Comparison of Capital Structure and Debt Maturity Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 23-56, February.
    9. Lu, Xiaomeng & Zhang, Xianjun & Guo, Jiaojiao & Yue, Pengpeng, 2024. "Digital finance era: Will individual investors become better players?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    10. Li, Sen & Qi, Tiancheng, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization, local government debt, and corporate innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Shiran Li & Hongbing Deng & Kangkang Zhang, 2019. "The Impact of Economy on Carbon Emissions: An Empirical Study Based on the Synergistic Effect of Gender Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-16, October.
    12. Zhu, Ling & Liu, Shasha & Kong, Dongmin, 2023. "Governments' fiscal stress and firm decentralization," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    13. Guo, Xingfang & Wei, Tao & Wang, Aiping & Hu, Haifeng, 2024. "Corporate governance effects of digital finance: Evidence from corporate tax avoidance in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(PA).
    14. Yue, Pengpeng & Korkmaz, Aslihan Gizem & Yin, Zhichao & Zhou, Haigang, 2022. "The rise of digital finance: Financial inclusion or debt trap?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    15. Hao, Jing & Peng, Mengzu & He, Wenjia, 2023. "Digital finance development and bank liquidity creation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Zefeng Tang, 2022. "Local Government Debt, Financial Circle, and Sustainable Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-29, September.
    17. Junhong Bai & Jiayu Lu & Sijia Li, 2019. "Fiscal Pressure, Tax Competition and Environmental Pollution," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(2), pages 431-447, 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. Zhang, Xinyu & Liu, Yixuan & Yu, Shaoze & Lin, Ouwen & Meng, Lu, 2025. "Impact of environmental protection tax on enterprise digital transformation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Wang, Peipei & Wang, Hongli, 2025. "Can digital financial development improve the accuracy of corporate earnings forecasts," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Dong, Li & Zhu, Xiaowei & Yang, Luwei & Jiang, Guoliang, 2025. "Unleashing the power of data element markets: Driving urban green growth through marketization, innovation, and digital finance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Guo, Xiaoxu & Wang, Yihan, 2025. "Effects of digital finance on enterprise total factor productivity: Evidence from the perspective of innovation level," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Gao, Jiwen & Li, Hao & Zhang, Didi, 2025. "Exploring the mechanisms and regional variations in how digital financial inclusion drives high-quality real economic development across China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Liu, Yibo & Dong, Caisheng, 2025. "Digital finance, social welfare investment, and urban–rural income inequality: Moderating role of regional economics and regional disparities," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Liu, Meihan & Zhao, Jingjie & Liu, Hongtao, 2025. "Digital transformation, employee and executive compensation, and sustained green innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. Zhang, Yujin & Ye, Shujun & Liu, Jie & Zhang, Lulu & Li, Jiayi, 2025. "Can digital transformation of commercial banks reduce green credit risks?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Jiang, Ruichen & Wu, Qingtian, 2025. "Can digital inclusive finance narrow the internal and external wage gaps in enterprises?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    10. Tang, Chaoli & Dong, Shuyun & Zhou, Rui, 2025. "The impact of digitalization on corporate resilience," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Liang, Guibao & Xia, Qiao & Zhang, Lijie, 2025. "Nonlinear influence of digital finance on green economic efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    12. Tang, Xinhui & Du, Shujun & Deng, Wenwen, 2025. "Business innovation in digital startups: A case study of an AI startup," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Zheng, Sufang & Huang, Siming & Deng, Xu, 2025. "Digital inclusive finance and local government debt: Examining the mechanism of impact on high-quality rural development from a macroeconomic perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Yang, Yuelin, 2025. "The development of digital finance and the crime rate of theft," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Xiao, Yu & Wu, Junxian & Tu, Yongqian, 2025. "Intensity of environmental regulation, integration of digital and physical realms, and level of corporate green development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Xing, Manjiang & Gong, Chi & Moon, Gyu-Hyen & Ge, Xiaohong, 2025. "Digital economy, dual innovation capability and enterprise labor productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    17. Wei, Feiqiong & Xie, Baiwei & Chen, Mingyan, 2025. "Digital financial inclusion, e-commerce development and entrepreneurial activity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Li, Pengcheng & Guo, Xiaochuan & Wang, Fengzheng & Zhang, Qifeng, 2025. "Digital transformation and corporate innovation boundaries: Role of supply chain concentration and transparency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    19. Xia, Weifeng & Ruan, Zhiyu & Ma, Shenglin & Zhao, Jin & Yan, Jiale, 2025. "Can the digital economy enhance carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from 269 cities in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    20. Wang, Bing & Liu, Yanyan & Yang, Xiangyu, 2024. "Digital economy and urban entrepreneurial activity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

    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:finlet:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325004027. 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/frl .

    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.