Can green credit policies improve corporate green production efficiency?

Abstract

Green credit policy is a policy enacted by the government to induce enterprises to balance environmental management and green economic development, but how green credit policy affects the green productivity of enterprises in practical situations is a topic worth exploring. This paper uses a double difference model to investigate the impact of green credit policies on green productivity of corporate from 2007 to 2020. It is found that the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines can significantly improve the green production efficiency of heavy polluting enterprises. The implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines has a greater effect on the green production efficiency of enterprises among enterprises with smaller commercial credit financing scale and enterprises with lower capital use efficiency than other enterprises. The impact of the Green Credit Guidelines on state-owned enterprises, large-scale enterprises, and enterprises in the central and western regions is more obvious. And the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines can affect the green production efficiency of enterprises through the financing scale effect and financing cost effect. This study provides insights for the government to further standardize the green credit system and ensure the effectiveness of green credit policy implementation, and provides ideas to promote green development of enterprises by analyzing the influencing factors of their green production efficiency.