Hou Hui, Zhu Youbin, Wang Jian, Zhang Minglang
School of Business Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110169, China.
Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Jan;30(4):10527-10539. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-22887-z. Epub 2022 Sep 9.
To speed up the transformation of green economy and promote the development of green finance, the Chinese government set up pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations in five provinces in 2017. This study constructs a quasi-natural experiment, and uses the difference-in-difference model to explore the impact of pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations policy on environmental quality for the first time. This study also examines the impact mechanism of the policy on environmental quality from the perspective of digital finance and green technology innovation for the first time. The results show that the environmental quality has been improved after the implementation of the pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations policy, and digital finance and green technology innovation have a significant intermediary effect in the process of green financial policy on environmental quality. Meanwhile, the policy effect has regional heterogeneity, with the policy effect in the east stronger than that in the central and western regions. The degree of marketization and informationization can promote the policy effect. This study provides important policy implications for the promotion of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones, and helps the government to evaluate the implementation effect of green finance policy.
为加快绿色经济转型，促进绿色金融发展，中国政府于2017年在五个省份设立了绿色金融改革创新试验区。本研究构建了一个准自然实验，并首次使用双重差分模型来探究绿色金融改革创新试验区政策对环境质量的影响。本研究还首次从数字金融和绿色技术创新的角度考察了该政策对环境质量的影响机制。结果表明，绿色金融改革创新试验区政策实施后环境质量得到了改善，数字金融和绿色技术创新在绿色金融政策影响环境质量的过程中具有显著的中介效应。同时，政策效应存在区域异质性，东部地区的政策效应强于中西部地区。市场化和信息化程度能够促进政策效应。本研究为推进绿色金融改革创新试验区提供了重要的政策启示，并有助于政府评估绿色金融政策的实施效果。
