Sustainable workplace accessibility, green CEO, and green finance: Evidence from China

Dockless bike-sharing services (DBS) present urban dwellers with a sustainable and economically viable transportation alternative, enhancing accessibility to corporate workplaces and subtly influencing urban development orientations towards green paradigms. Leveraging the staggered introduction of DBS across China as a quasi-natural experiment, our findings indicate that firms located in cities where DBS has been introduced exhibit a heightened emphasis on green development strategies in terms of a greater tendency to appoint CEOs with green experience. Notably, state-owned and large firms, firms with lower financing constraints and higher employee education levels, as well as firms in heavily polluting and highly competitive industries, exhibit a stronger inclination to appoint green CEOs, driven by social responsibility, corporate image, and the urgent need for green transformation. Further analysis reveals that the introduction of DBS enhances firms' preference for green CEOs, which significantly improves their environmental performance, increases their attractiveness to green investors, and promotes the issuance of green bonds. These effects substantially facilitate corporate green financing activities and ultimately enhance firm performance, establishing a virtuous feedback loop mechanism. This paper delves into the ramifications of introducing DBS on corporate development, offering micro-empirical evidence to aid companies in optimizing their strategic decisions and providing insights for regulators in formulating environmental policies.