Study on the Influence of Green Credit Policies on the Investment Efficiency of Heavy Polluters

Abstract

Green finance is an important driving force for green innovation as well as green development in China, and is also one of the important strategies for the current high-quality economic development. In the dual context of building a green financial system and a market-oriented green technological innovation system, this paper takes the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines in 2012 as an entry point, and uses a two-way fixed double difference model to test and examine the specific effects of the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines policy on the investment efficiency of heavily polluting enterprises based on panel data of Chinese listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2009 to 2020, and analyze the mediating mechanism of financing cost and debt maturity. It is found that (1) the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines significantly improves the corporate investment efficiency of heavy polluters; (2) the loan amount and debt maturity play a partially mediating role between the Green Credit Guidelines and the investment efficiency of heavy polluters; and (3) the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines improves the investment efficiency of heavy polluters in state-owned and non-eastern regions more significantly. The results of the study further emphasize the necessity of implementing green financial policies and the importance of implementing the policies according to local conditions so as to contribute to the high-quality green development of China's economy.