Does Green Finance Drive New Quality Productive Forces? Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

Productivity has long been the fundamental driver of human social progress and national prosperity. Against the backdrop of technological advancement and social development, New Quality Productive Forces (NQPFs) have emerged as a new form of productivity, serving as a key focus for corporate transformation and upgrading as well as sustainable national development. Based on the panel data of 28,107 listed companies in China from 2011 to 2022, this study employs a three-way fixed-effects model to investigate the impact of green finance (GF) on corporate NQPFs. The main findings are as follows: First, GF exhibits a significant positive correlation with the enhancement of corporate NQPFs. Second, financing constraints and corporate social responsibility strengthen the empowering effect of GF on corporate NQPFs, while environmental law enforcement weakens this effect, reflecting a “synergistic dilemma” between government intervention and market mechanisms in promoting corporate NQPFs. Third, the effect of GF on corporate NQPFs shows significant heterogeneity depending on environmental and social risks, the nature of property rights, public attention, and firm size. These findings provide important insights for optimizing green finance policies and enhancing corporate productivity.