Xu Huaining, Tian Yanan
School of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510632, China.
School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510641, China.
J Environ Manage. 2025 Jan;373:123543. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123543. Epub 2024 Dec 5.
We explore the effect of China's unique environmental credit rating pilot policy on loan contract terms between firms and banks. First, we find that the environmental credit rating policy increases the amount of bank loans received by firms and lowers their borrowing costs. These results remain robust across a range of sensitivity tests. Second, the mechanism tests identify signal transmission and risk avoidance as two key factors facilitating the positive effects. Cross-sectional analyses find that the positive effects of environmental credit rating policy are more pronounced in contexts with non-state-owned firms, banks performing well in environmental responsibility, weak bank-firm relationships, and suboptimal business environments. Finally, the environmental credit rating policy also contributes to optimizing the loan structure and extending loan maturity.
我们探讨了中国独特的环境信用评级试点政策对企业与银行之间贷款合同条款的影响。首先，我们发现环境信用评级政策增加了企业获得的银行贷款金额，并降低了它们的借款成本。在一系列敏感性测试中，这些结果依然稳健。其次，机制检验确定信号传递和风险规避是促成这些积极影响的两个关键因素。横截面分析发现，环境信用评级政策的积极影响在非国有企业、在环境责任方面表现良好的银行、银企关系薄弱以及商业环境欠佳的背景下更为显著。最后，环境信用评级政策还有助于优化贷款结构并延长贷款期限。
