IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/enejou/v46y2025i3p123-163.html

The Effects of Regional Banks on Carbon Emissions: A Quasi-Natural Experiment of City Commercial Banks in China

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoxiao Zhou
  • Junjie Lin
  • Hua Zhang
  • Umer Shahzad

Abstract

Financial support is essential to reduce carbon emissions (CEs) and achieve the green transformation of China. To detect the nexus of local finance and CEs, we constructed a two-sector (clean and dirty sectors) model to identify the channels from city commercial banks (CCBs) to CEs involving capital scale, structure, and efficiency. Using the setting of CCBs as a quasi-natural experiment, we applied difference-in-differences (DID), instrument variable (IV), and spatial DID methods to test the effects of the construction of CCBs on CEs in China during 2003 to 2018. The construction of CCBs promoted CEs in cities by offsetting the technological effect and stimulating electricity consumption expansion (scale effect) and reindustrialization (structural effect). CCBs’ branches strengthened the promotion effect of CCBs’ construction on CEs, but the mergers of CCBs mitigated the effect. The effects varied across regions with different features (covering location, per capita income, financial development, environmental regulation, industrial and energy structure, carbon source, and so on). The construction of CCBs showed a spatial spillover effect, increasing the CEs of neighbors. Accordingly, suggestions were proposed to reduce CEs by optimizing CCBs management, policy making, and local carbon reduction efforts. JEL Classification: E44, G28, O16

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoxiao Zhou & Junjie Lin & Hua Zhang & Umer Shahzad, 2025. "The Effects of Regional Banks on Carbon Emissions: A Quasi-Natural Experiment of City Commercial Banks in China," The Energy Journal, , vol. 46(3), pages 123-163, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:46:y:2025:i:3:p:123-163
    DOI: 10.1177/01956574241280807
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01956574241280807
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/01956574241280807?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy & Mo, Di & Huang, Ruixian, 2021. "The role of financial deepening and green technology on carbon emissions: Evidence from major OECD economies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    2. Hu, Yucai & Ren, Shenggang & Wang, Yangjie & Chen, Xiaohong, 2020. "Can carbon emission trading scheme achieve energy conservation and emission reduction? Evidence from the industrial sector in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. repec:aen:journl:ej43-4-tan is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jianxun Chen & Hui Tan & Yingran Ma, 2022. "Distinguishing the Complex Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Environmental Pollution: Evidence from China," The Energy Journal, , vol. 43(4), pages 27-44, May.
    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. Ying Zhang & Yingli Huang, 2023. "Killing Two Birds with One Stone or Missing One of Them? The Synergistic Governance Effect of China’s Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme on Pollution Control and Carbon Emission Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Kai Dong & Shaonan Wang & Hengqiang Hu & Ningning Guan & Xiaolei Shi & Ye Song, 2024. "Financial development, carbon dioxide emissions, and sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 348-366, February.
    3. Juan Luo & Chong Xu & Boyu Yang & Xiaoyu Chen & Yinyin Wu, 2022. "Quantitative Analysis of China’s Carbon Emissions Trading Policies: Perspectives of Policy Content Validity and Carbon Emissions Reduction Effect," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Fei Yang & Chunchen Wang, 2023. "Clean energy, emission trading policy, and CO2 emissions: Evidence from China," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1657-1673, August.
    5. Tan, Xiujie & Sun, Qian & Wang, Meiji & Se Cheong, Tsun & Yan Shum, Wai & Huang, Jinpeng, 2022. "Assessing the effects of emissions trading systems on energy consumption and energy mix," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    6. Chien, FengSheng & Zhang, YunQian & Lin, ZiQi & Lin, YuChao & Sadiq, Muhammad, 2024. "An integrated perspective on fintech, green innovation and natural resource rent: Evidence from Asia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Chen, Xing & Hou, Yu & He, Jiaxin & Shang, Hua, 2025. "Unified efficiency under market-based climate policy: A regression control analysis of China’s carbon trading scheme in the metallurgical sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    8. Qingzhou Wang & Mengfan Li & Yuning Zhang & Yanan Kang, 2025. "Green Port Collection and Distribution System in Low-Carbon Development: Scenario-Based System Dynamics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-23, July.
    9. Zhang, Jiekuan, 2023. "Emissions trading scheme and energy consumption and output structure: Evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    10. Cheng, Zhen & Ding, Chante Jian & Zhao, Kunqian, 2025. "Energy use rights trading and carbon emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    11. Mengyao Liu & Yan Hou & Hongli Jiang, 2023. "The Energy-Saving Effect of E-Commerce Development—A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-22, June.
    12. Chu, Baoju & Dong, Yizhe & Liu, Yaorong & Ma, Diandian & Wang, Tianju, 2024. "Does China's emission trading scheme affect corporate financial performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    13. Guosong Wang & Huizhen Zhang, 2025. "FinTech-Driven Corporate Sustainability: A Technology–Organization–Environment Framework Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-28, September.
    14. Luo, Shiyue & Lu, Mingyue & Ye, Jinhui & Guo, Yuying & Hao, Yu, 2025. "Nurturing finance and harvesting intelligence: The green growth of urban industrial intelligence fueled by green finance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Wanlin Yu & Jinlong Luo, 2022. "Impact on Carbon Intensity of Carbon Emission Trading—Evidence from a Pilot Program in 281 Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-19, September.
    16. Yang, Wen & Zhao, Keqing, 2024. "Cross-border capital flows and low-carbon economic development: Examining the impact of foreign shareholding," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    17. Wei Zhang & Jing Cheng & Xuemeng Liu & Zhangrong Zhu, 2023. "Heterogeneous industrial agglomeration, its coordinated development and total factor energy efficiency," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 5511-5537, June.
    18. Qiannan Zhu & Zhengyu Zhang, 2025. "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction: Evidence From China's Listed Firms," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 410-430, December.
    19. Tianyi Zheng & Ge Li, 2025. "New effects of environmental policy: does energy quota trading policy affect green entrepreneurship?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(6), pages 1-33, December.
    20. Liu, Chenglin & Zhao, Lei & Zhu, Shun & Shen, Yuefeng & Yu, Jianhua & Yang, Qingchun, 2023. "Advanced exergy analysis and optimization of a coal to ethylene glycol (CtEG) process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

    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:sae:enejou:v:46:y:2025:i:3:p:123-163. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.