Digital finance, regional innovation environment and renewable energy technology innovation: Threshold effects

Abstract

The correlation between renewable energy technology innovation (RENTI) and carbon neutrality has been studied extensively. Meanwhile, an efficient digital financial system and a favorable innovation environment are essential to promote RENTI. This paper examines the effects of digital finance and the regional innovation environment on RENTI using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces spanning 2011 to 2020. The findings demonstrate that digital finance directly promotes RENTI. The marginal effect of digital finance is more significant for eastern regions and regions with developed finance. The threshold effect analysis shows that the positive impact of digital finance on RENTI reaches a higher level when government financial support and ICT development exceed a certain threshold. In addition, appropriate levels of human capital are conducive to the positive impact of digital finance. Finally, we find that digital finance promotes local RENTI and benefits RENTI in neighboring regions. Our findings offer insights for policymakers to guide digital finance to support RENTI and optimize the innovation environment.