Abstract：In recent years, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Ecological Civilization Thought, China’s economic and social development has entered a stage of comprehensive green transformation. Among the driving forces for green development, green innovation has increasingly become a vital source of power. Green bonds, as a tool for direct green financing for enterprises, raise critical questions such as whether they can indeed enhance the level of green innovation, the channels through which this occurs, and whether the “true green” effect really exists. This paper, based on an analysis of the characteristics and facts of green bonds, empirically investigates the impact of green bonds on green innovation and its mechanisms using a fixed-effects model, with data from 113 cities that issued green bonds between 2014 and 2021 in China. The research is supplemented by a corporate-level study, aiming at exploring the effects of green bonds on green innovation and its underlying mechanisms. The main findings are as follows: (1) China’s green bond market has developed steadily and orderly, exhibiting a positive growth trend. The volume of green bond issuance in the eastern region leads the country. (2) Green bonds can effectively enhance the level of green innovation. This effect is more significant in the eastern region, non-resource-based cities, and areas with lower economic development pressure. (3) Green bonds help alleviate the overall financing constraints of cities and increase the green capital reserves of enterprises, thereby injecting vitality into urban green innovation. At the same time, green bonds can also enhance public awareness of environmental pollution and strengthen government environmental regulations, thereby deepening corporate awareness of environmental protection through a combination of “soft” and “hard” measures. In addition, green bonds can expand the scale of capital flows, channeling funds towards green research and development projects, thereby further enhancing their incentivizing effect on green innovation. (4) Due to potential issues related to the allocation of funds, green bonds may not effectively incentivize high-pollution industries to engage in green R&D activities. Additionally, the strong inclination towards high-tech development may exacerbate the crowding-out effect on green funds. However, green bonds primarily play a role in generating a “true green” effect.
The main contributions of this research can be summarized from the following aspects: (1) In terms of the scope of research, most existing literature on green bonds primarily analyzes the internal mechanisms of how green bonds influence green innovation at the corporate level, with few studies deeply exploring this issue at the city level. This paper mainly conducts an analysis from the city perspective, supplemented by corporate-level research, providing a dual perspective of enterprise and city to organize and explore the characteristics and mechanisms, thus enriching the scope of research. (2) In terms of the pathways of influence, existing literature on green bonds mostly focuses on their role at the corporate level. However, from an economic reality perspective, exploring the channels through which green bonds at the city level affect green innovation is a critical aspect of promoting green development. Based on this, this paper adds to the analysis by examining the green signaling mechanism and the capital allocation role of green bonds at the city level, which complements the relevant analysis of the influence channels at the city level. (3) In terms of the breadth of research, the “China Green Bond Principles” has explicitly increased the proportion of green funding allocation requirements, yet there is limited literature that thoroughly examines the allocation of corporate green funds, and discussions on the existence of the “true green” effect of green bonds are rare. This paper further analyzes and emphasizes the impact of green fund allocation on green innovation and verifies the existence of the “true green” effect from the perspectives of corporate green fund flow, sustainable development performance, and actual environmental benefits, thus expanding and enriching the relevant research.
In conclusion, the findings of this paper contribute to corporate green and low-carbon development, the overall green transformation of the economy and society, and the achievement of the “dual carbon” goals. Moreover, they can provide financial support for the construction of a “Beautiful China”.
庄汝龙 陆棒棒. 绿色债券如何影响绿色创新？——基于城市与企业双重视角的分析[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 0, (): 1-.
Zhuang Rulong Lu Bangbang. How Do Green Bonds Affect Green Innovation? An Analysis Based on the Dual Perspectives of Cities and Enterprises. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 0, (): 1-.
