Empowering energy transition: Green innovation, digital finance, and the path to sustainable prosperity through green finance initiatives

Abstract

This study delves into the intricate relationship between financial digitization and green innovation, aiming to shed light on their dynamic interplay within a global context. Spanning from 2003 to 2020, the study encompasses 15 diverse countries, encompassing both developed and emerging economies, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russian Federation, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the USA. It not only explores the direct connection between financial digitization and green innovation but also takes into account various controlling factors such as economic growth, industrial value addition, research and development expenditure, and gross national expenditure. The key findings from quantile regression reveal financial digitization have a significant positive effect, indicating that in countries with lower green innovation levels, an increase in digital financial services significantly boosts green innovation. This positive impact persists across quantiles, even in countries with higher green innovation levels, albeit to a lesser degree. Economic growth consistently shows a negative association with green innovation across all quantiles. Research and development expenditure consistently demonstrate a positive relationship with green innovation across all quantiles, emphasizing that countries allocating a higher percentage of their economic growth to research and development expenditure activities experience substantial increases in green innovation. This underscores that countries allocating a higher percentage of their economic growth to research and development expenditure activities experience substantial increases not only in green innovation but also in the facilitation of green finance initiatives.