Green finance innovation, digital technology, and air pollution

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Finance Research Letters Pub Date : 2025-09-29 DOI:10.1016/j.frl.2025.108586

Xiaoming Chen , Huanting Wu , Shufang Qian , Dan Wu

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Abstract

Green finance policies serve as a critical nexus for balancing environmental and economic objectives. In this study, city-level panel data from 2011 to 2022 is employed and a difference-in-differences model is used to investigate the pollution abatement effects of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones on air quality and the underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that the pilot policies significantly reduced PM2.5 concentrations in participating cities, a result that is robust against multiple robustness checks. Notably, digital technology adoption reduced the pollution-reducing effects of green finance policies, potentially because of the “scale expansion effect” and “long-tail effect”. Heterogeneity analysis indicates stronger policy efficacy in regions with higher levels of financial development, stricter environmental regulations, lower levels of industrial structure rationalization, and more severe air pollution. These results provide empirical evidence and policy insights for refining green finance approaches and coordinating digital and green transitions.

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绿色金融创新、数字技术和大气污染

绿色金融政策是平衡环境和经济目标的关键纽带。本文采用2011 - 2022年城市面板数据，采用异中差模型研究绿色金融改革创新试验区对空气质量的污染减排效应及其机制。研究结果显示，试点政策显著降低了参与城市的PM2.5浓度，这一结果在多重稳健性检验下是稳健的。值得注意的是，数字技术的采用降低了绿色金融政策的减排效果，这可能是由于“规模扩张效应”和“长尾效应”。异质性分析表明，金融发展水平越高、环境监管越严格、产业结构合理化程度越低、大气污染越严重的地区，政策效力越强。这些结果为完善绿色金融方法、协调数字化和绿色转型提供了经验证据和政策见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Finance Research Letters BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

11.10

自引率

14.40%

发文量

863

期刊介绍： Finance Research Letters welcomes submissions across all areas of finance, aiming for rapid publication of significant new findings. The journal particularly encourages papers that provide insight into the replicability of established results, examine the cross-national applicability of previous findings, challenge existing methodologies, or demonstrate methodological contingencies. Papers are invited in the following areas: Actuarial studies Alternative investments Asset Pricing Bankruptcy and liquidation Banks and other Depository Institutions Behavioral and experimental finance Bibliometric and Scientometric studies of finance Capital budgeting and corporate investment Capital markets and accounting Capital structure and payout policy Commodities Contagion, crises and interdependence Corporate governance Credit and fixed income markets and instruments Derivatives Emerging markets Energy Finance and Energy Markets Financial Econometrics Financial History Financial intermediation and money markets Financial markets and marketplaces Financial Mathematics and Econophysics Financial Regulation and Law Forecasting Frontier market studies International Finance Market efficiency, event studies Mergers, acquisitions and the market for corporate control Micro Finance Institutions Microstructure Non-bank Financial Institutions Personal Finance Portfolio choice and investing Real estate finance and investing Risk SME, Family and Entrepreneurial Finance