Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China

Abstract The role of finance in environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important. This study conducts a quasi-natural experiment using a sample of 146 prefecture-level cities from 2015 to 2019. It adopts difference-in-differences to examine the impact of China’s green finance reform a...

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Main Authors: Xiaoyang Xu, Yufan Xie, Emma Serwaa Obobisa, Huaping Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2023-05-01
Series:Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01773-0
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author Xiaoyang Xu
Yufan Xie
Emma Serwaa Obobisa
Huaping Sun
author_facet Xiaoyang Xu
Yufan Xie
Emma Serwaa Obobisa
Huaping Sun
author_sort Xiaoyang Xu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The role of finance in environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important. This study conducts a quasi-natural experiment using a sample of 146 prefecture-level cities from 2015 to 2019. It adopts difference-in-differences to examine the impact of China’s green finance reform and innovations pilot zones (GFRIs) on urban air quality. The findings show that air quality has improved after the establishment of GFRIs, indicating that GFRIs have the potential to control air pollution levels. The mechanism tests indicate that the GFRIs are conducive to improving air quality through industrial structure upgrading and green innovation. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analyses show that the air quality in the south of the Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River line, in large and well-developed financially scaled cities, has improved significantly after the establishment of GFRIs.
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spelling doaj.art-9132bb4c09fe418bb1e5b66551c750392023-05-28T11:11:09ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922023-05-0110111410.1057/s41599-023-01773-0Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from ChinaXiaoyang Xu0Yufan Xie1Emma Serwaa Obobisa2Huaping Sun3School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu UniversitySchool of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu UniversitySchool of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu UniversitySchool of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu UniversityAbstract The role of finance in environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important. This study conducts a quasi-natural experiment using a sample of 146 prefecture-level cities from 2015 to 2019. It adopts difference-in-differences to examine the impact of China’s green finance reform and innovations pilot zones (GFRIs) on urban air quality. The findings show that air quality has improved after the establishment of GFRIs, indicating that GFRIs have the potential to control air pollution levels. The mechanism tests indicate that the GFRIs are conducive to improving air quality through industrial structure upgrading and green innovation. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analyses show that the air quality in the south of the Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River line, in large and well-developed financially scaled cities, has improved significantly after the establishment of GFRIs.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01773-0
spellingShingle Xiaoyang Xu
Yufan Xie
Emma Serwaa Obobisa
Huaping Sun
Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
title Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China
title_full Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China
title_fullStr Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China
title_full_unstemmed Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China
title_short Has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality? Evidence from China
title_sort has the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zones improved air quality evidence from china
url https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01773-0
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AT emmaserwaaobobisa hastheestablishmentofgreenfinancereformandinnovationpilotzonesimprovedairqualityevidencefromchina
AT huapingsun hastheestablishmentofgreenfinancereformandinnovationpilotzonesimprovedairqualityevidencefromchina