Can green finance policy reduce corporate carbon emissions? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

IF 8 3区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

British Accounting Review Pub Date : 2025-09-01 Epub Date: 2024-12-04 DOI:10.1016/j.bar.2024.101540

Xiaoqian Liu , Javier Cifuentes-Faura , Chang'an Wang , Long Wang

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Abstract

The construction of pilot zones for green finance reform and innovation (PZGFRI) is China's regional exploration aimed at increasing financial support for green transformation and development. However, its impact on corporate carbon emission governance is uncertain. This paper examines the impact of the PZGFRI policy on corporate carbon emissions (CCEs) and its mechanisms based on the difference-in-differences model. The results indicate that this PZGFRI policy notably reduces the carbon emissions of enterprises in the pilot regions. Mechanism analysis reveals that this green finance policy reduces CCEs via alleviating corporate financing constraints, promoting corporate green innovation and corporate ESG performance. Heterogeneity results show that this negative impact is more pronounced for non-SOEs than SOEs. Furthermore, the PZGFRI policy dramatically reduces the carbon emissions of enterprises with short-sighted managers, while having insignificant performance on those with long-sighted management. Moreover, carbon reduction effect is notable for high-carbon industry enterprises, and this impact is insignificant for non-high carbon emission industry enterprises. Additionally, this policy has a prominent carbon reduction influence on enterprises in eastern and central regions, but its effect is minimal for those in western regions. This paper provides empirical evidence for other countries to implement green finance policies to promote low-carbon transformation development.

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绿色金融政策能减少企业碳排放吗？来自中国一项准自然实验的证据

建设绿色金融改革创新试验区是中国加大绿色转型发展金融支持力度的区域探索。然而，其对企业碳排放治理的影响是不确定的。本文基于差异中的差异模型，研究了PZGFRI政策对企业碳排放的影响及其机制。结果表明，该政策显著降低了试点地区企业的碳排放。机制分析表明，该绿色金融政策通过缓解企业融资约束、促进企业绿色创新和企业ESG绩效来降低企业成本。异质性结果表明，这种负面影响在非国有企业中比国有企业更为明显。此外，PZGFRI政策显著减少了管理者短视的企业的碳排放，而对管理者目光长远的企业的碳排放效果不显著。高碳行业企业的碳减排效果显著，而非高碳行业企业的碳减排效果不显著。此外，该政策对东部和中部地区企业的碳减排效果显著，但对西部地区企业的效果最小。本文为其他国家实施绿色金融政策促进低碳转型发展提供了经验依据。

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

British Accounting Review BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

3.90%

发文量

审稿时长

76 days

期刊介绍： The British Accounting Review*is pleased to publish original scholarly papers across the whole spectrum of accounting and finance. The journal is eclectic and pluralistic and contributions are welcomed across a wide range of research methodologies (e.g. analytical, archival, experimental, survey and qualitative case methods) and topics (e.g. financial accounting, management accounting, finance and financial management, auditing, public sector accounting, social and environmental accounting; accounting education and accounting history), evidence from UK and non-UK sources are equally acceptable.