Abstract
Green innovation is essential for improving the environment and realizing sustainable economic development. In this research, we use a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2018 to examine whether and how digital finance affects corporate green innovation. The proof we provided shows that digital finance has a positive effect on green innovation. The result is consistent with a series of robustness tests. Further analyses show that digital finance promotes green innovation by alleviating financial constraints and increasing R&D investment. And the effect is more pronounced in economically backward regions and high-polluting industries. This research provides practical guidance for promoting finance development and improving the ecological environment.
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Data availability
The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Notes
Industry codes B06, B07, B08, B09, C17, C19, C22, C25, C26, C28, C29, C30, C31, C32, and D44 are classified as high-pollution industries.
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The authors express gratitude to all those who helped us during the writing of the paper and acknowledge the advices of the anonymous reviewers to improve the quality of this study.
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JL chose the research ideas, formed the study framework, collected, and analyzed the data; YJ was the main contributor in writing the manuscript and also collected some of the data; SG, LH, and QZ reviewed and edited the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Liu, J., Jiang, Y., Gan, S. et al. Can digital finance promote corporate green innovation?. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 35828–35840 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18667-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18667-4