ESG performance and green innovation of Chinese enterprises: Based on the perspective of financing constraints.

Sustainable development needs to rely on green innovation. Enterprise ESG performance rating to alleviate the information asymmetry between enterprises and investors, for the green innovation provides development opportunities. However, there is a lack of research on the mechanism of the two based on the perspective of financing constraints. Therefore, considering the theories of sustainable development, green innovation, financing constraints and stakeholders, the basic mechanism and non-linear mechanism of ESG and green innovation are explored, aiming to provide reference for playing the role of ESG performance in promoting green innovation. The results show that better ESG performance can significantly promote the output of green innovation, and this promoting effect exists for both high-end green innovation and low-end green innovation, and its main channel is to alleviate financing constraints. In addition, this incentive exists a double threshold of digital finance and a single threshold of enterprise scale. Perfect digital finance and larger enterprise scale will strengthen the incentive effect of enterprise ESG performance on green innovation output. Considering financing constraints, this study further clarifies the relationship between enterprises ESG performance and green innovation, enriching the theoretical framework of green innovation and offering a new pathway for advancing green innovation among Chinese enterprises.

Digital finance and sustainable development: Evidence from developing nations.

OBJECTIVES: This paper investigates the role of digital finance in promoting environmental sustainability within a group of 52 developing economies from 2010 to 2019. Specifically, it examines whether digital finance effectively contributes reducing CO2 emissions in these nations. METHODS: This paper is a quantitative study which employs the IV-GMM (instrumental variable generalized methods of moment) approach that tackles any potential endogeneity. Furthermore, to ensure robustness of results, this paper also utilizes different measures of financial development. RESULTS: Estimation results from this study reveal the presence of inverted U-shaped relationship between digital finance and CO2 emissions. This suggests that the beneficial effects of digital finance may take time to materialize. Additionally, this research also records the presence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve and a significant impact of renewable energy, trade openness, financial development, urbanization, and population on CO2 emissions. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that it may take time for digital finance to become beneficial to the environment. Therefore, in addition to digital finance, countries should also adopt other measures simultaneously (use of renewable energy, combination between digital finance and financial development).

Digital finance development in China: A scientometric review.

The continuous integration of digital technology and finance has spurred the rapid development of the digital finance industry, making it a critical area of interest for scholars. This study combines quantitative research methods using Citespace software for scientometric analysis and qualitative research methods involving manual selection and content analysis of key literature to summarise the research status, hot topics, and frontiers in the field of digital finance in China. The research findings highlight several influential factors in the digital finance literature, such as regional and journal distribution, institutional and author collaboration, and highly cited literature. Currently, the four most important and cutting-edge research areas are digital currency, digital inclusive finance, fintech and blockchain technology. Furthermore, an analysis of the development trends in digital finance research is conducted and future research perspectives are suggested.

Energy-consuming right transaction and low-carbon technology innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed enterprises.

To decarbonize the economy and spur high-quality development, formulating effective environmental policies to encourage low-carbon technology innovation is increasingly critical. While the energy-consuming right transaction represents a significant institutional breakthrough, its potential to motivate enterprises towards low-carbon technology innovation remains underexplored. To address this gap, our study utilizes panel data from Chinese listed enterprises between 2009 and 2020, employing the energy-consuming right transaction pilot policy to develop a difference-in-difference model that assesses the policy's impact on low-carbon innovation. Our findings indicate that the implementation of energy-consuming rights transaction has boosted low-carbon innovation efforts by 14.3 %. In-depth analysis shows that R&D investment and green agency costs are crucial mediators, with energy-consuming rights transaction enhancing R&D capital and personnel investments by 2.1 % and 1.5 %, respectively, and reducing green agency costs by 1.8 %. The study also uncovers the moderating role of digital finance, which amplifies the positive effects of energy-consuming rights transaction on low-carbon innovation. Moreover, energy-consuming rights transaction shows a more significant effect on improving low-carbon innovation for low energy-consuming and non-state-owned enterprises. These insights underscore the importance of precisely segmenting energy-consuming enterprises and devising customized policies to meet their unique needs, paving the way for a national energy-consuming right transaction market.

Driving effect of digital government policy on synergy in corporate pollution reduction, carbon reduction, and green expansion.

This study constructs an index on synergy of corporate carbon reduction, pollution reduction, and green expansion (PCG), and uses a difference in difference model to test the impact of digital government (DGO) on PCG. Results show that DGO significantly promotes PCG, and compared to companies without DGO, DGO can lead to a 2.4% increase in PCG. And, DGO may promote PCG by increasing environmental information disclosure, environmental subsidies and environmental regulations. In the heterogeneity, DGO has a higher promoting effect on PCG in eastern enterprises, heavily polluting industries, and state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, digital financial support, media supervision, and public participation will promote the positive effect of DGO on PCG. This study aims to provide implications for promoting PCG and empirical reference for promoting DGO.

The impact of digital finance on technological innovation across enterprise life cycles in China.

This study aims to fill a gap in our knowledge by analyzing how digital financing has affected technological innovation in China's firms across different growth phases. This article investigates the relationship between technological innovation efficiency and digital finance in China's A-share listed corporations between 2012 and 2022 using basic logistic modelling. Its main goal is to comprehend how digital finance affects these businesses' technological innovation efficiency from various angles. The study concludes that digital finance significantly improves the efficiency of technological innovation; more importantly, the Digital Finance Adoption Rate (DFAR) has a more significant influence than the Digital Finance Level (DFL). According to the Digital Transformation Maturity (DTM) scale, digital finance helps businesses transform digitally, increasing the effectiveness of technological innovation. State-owned businesses are more affected by the influence of digital finance on innovation efficiency than non-state-owned businesses. Other factors, including enterprise lifecycle, innovation investment, digital leadership, revenue strategies, and market rivalry, also shape the relationship between digital finance and technical innovation efficiency. To increase innovation efficiency, particularly in state-owned businesses, the study suggests expanding access to and adoption of digital finance. It also means leveraging elements such as enterprise lifecycle, innovation investment, digital leadership, revenue strategies, and market competition to spur more technological innovation. The impact of digital finance on technological innovation at different phases of organizational growth in China highlights the need for customized methods to harness its potential.

Impact of digital infrastructure construction on financial development: Evidence from the "broadband China" Strategy.

The "Broadband China" has enabled China to achieve leapfrog development in the construction of its high-speed broadband networks, thereby accelerating the development of digital infrastructure and unleashing the potential for financial sector growth. This has created a strong impetus for economy to shift towards high-quality development. An in-depth understanding of the empirical correlation between the development of digital infrastructure and financial progress is absent, leaving an unexplored domain of research concerning the impact of the "Broad China" strategy on financial agglomeration (Finagg), financial scale (Finscal), and digital finance (Digfina). In order to evaluate the dynamic impacts of this policy on financial development, this research builds a multi-period difference in differences (DID) model using panel data from 269 prefecture-level cities between 2011 and 2020. The study concludes that the "Broadband China" policy significantly fosters the growth of Finagg, Finscal, and Digfina, in China, and found that the "Broadband China" policy has a significant impact on the regional heterogeneity of financial agglomeration and digital finance. There are significant variations in the effects of this policy on different regions, while the regional heterogeneity differences in the impact on financial scale are relatively small. Additionally, the three mediating variables of technological innovation, fund support, and talent agglomeration play a mediating role in the mechanism of digital infrastructure on financial development.

The impact of digital finance on young People's health insurance participation decisions in China.

Background: The digital finance era has reshaped young people's lifestyles, risk perceptions and insurance participation decisions. Modern youth have to constantly seek for rational social security support and construct individual protection barriers to adapt to new lifestyles and social structures. China's multi-tiered, universal health insurance system is urgently needed to satisfy young people's flexible needs and rational decision-making. Methods: Based on the micro data from 2011 ~ 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this paper uses macro data from Digital Inclusive Finance Index (DIFI) matching to construct probit and m-logit model to assess the impact of the development of digital finance on Chinese youth whether or not to participate in health insurance, and how they choose the concrete type of health insurance. Results: (1) Baseline regression results shows that digital finance has a significant positive effect on Chinese youth's health insurance participation decisions, and has different effects on choices within health insurance types. Strong support for the conclusions is provided by endogeneity and robustness tests. (2) The results of the heterogeneity analysis reveal that the marginal effect of digital finance on young people's health insurance decisions shows urban-rural differences, divergence in levels of self-rated health. (3) The mechanism analysis results suggest that there are two mechanism paths of digital finance on youth health insurance decisions: the household income effect and the subjective well-being effect, and two moderating effects: employment type and family structure. Conclusion: Highlighting the positive value that digital finance brings to the perception of youth insurance participation and the construction of social security systems, it needs to pay close attention to the dynamic changes in employment security and family structure through data, and explore the socio-psychological fluctuation and demand for social security among modern youth. To provide a way forward to achieve the integration of the health insurance system in China and solve the current problem of health insurance equity.

Digital finance reduces urban carbon footprint pressure in 277 Chinese cities.

As global warming's impact on humanity surpasses initial predictions, numerous countries confront heightened risks associated with escalating urban carbon footprints. Concurrently, digital finance has flourished, propelled by advancements in digital technology. This convergence underscores the urgency of exploring digital finance's role in mitigating urban carbon footprint pressures. This study analyzes data spanning 277 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2020, yielding several key findings: Firstly, we developed a dataset detailing the carbon footprint pressures in these cities, revealing that variations in these pressures predominantly correlate with economic growth. Secondly, our analysis indicates that digital finance has a significant impact on reducing urban carbon footprint pressures, through mechanisms such as reducing the number of physical bank branches and enhancing residents' environmental awareness. Thirdly, the study identifies that the efficacy of digital finance in reducing carbon footprint pressures varies according to factors like sunshine duration and geographic location. The insights from this research aim to contribute substantively to strategies for sustainable urban development.

The Impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty-empirical evidence from rural China.

It is of critical importance to address energy poverty in rural areas if inclusive prosperity is to be achieved. Digital finance offers new opportunities to alleviate energy poverty in these regions. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the impact of digital finance on poverty, neglecting research on its impact in rural areas and on specific forms of poverty. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty. The period 2011-2021 was selected as the observation period, with 31 provinces serving as the study objects. The fixed effects model was employed to investigate the impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty, while exploring the mediating effect. The results indicate that digital finance alleviates the level of rural energy poverty, and this conclusion remains valid following a series of robustness tests. Furthermore, digital finance can indirectly alleviate rural energy poverty through technological innovation and agricultural entrepreneurship activities. Further research indicates that the impact of digital finance on rural energy poverty is more pronounced in regions with abundant human capital, robust government intervention, and minimal urban-rural disparities. This study extends the theoretical support for digital finance to indirectly support rural energy to alleviate poverty. Likewise, this finding provides a new perspective for the government and relevant departments to improve the welfare of residents and alleviate rural energy poverty.

Help or Hurt? The Impact of Digital Finance on the Physical Health of the Elderly in China.

Under the backdrop of global aging, the escalating number of elderly individuals in poor health poses a growing social burden and impacts economic development and social stability. A fundamental question arises as to whether the advancements of digital finance (DF) can effectively enhance the physical health of the elderly. This study aims to investigate the impact of DF on the physical health of the elderly by utilizing data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2013, 2015, and 2018. The results reveal a significant positive impact of DF on enhancing the physical health of the elderly. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that this impact is particularly pronounced among the elderly with higher educational attainment, stronger intergenerational links, and those residing in central cities. A mechanism analysis further reveals that DF contributes to improving the physical health of the elderly by augmenting household disposable income, alleviating liquidity constraints, and enhancing the utilization of medical services. These findings offer valuable insights for the future development of DF and the implementation of policies promoting healthy aging and active aging.

Research on the coupling coordination characteristics and convergence of digital finance and regional sustainable development: evidence from Chinese city clusters.

The study examines the digital finance (DF) and regional sustainable development (RSD) across 90 cities within six major city clusters in China over the period from 2011 to 2020. By constructing an evaluation index system for DF and RSD, we employed the entropy value method to assess their levels, and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to evaluate their interplay. Our analysis extended to temporal and spatial disparities, distribution dynamics, and the convergence of CCD through kernel density estimation, Markov chain analysis, σ -convergence, and ß -convergence techniques. The results indicate a consistent upward trend in CCD, yet it remains at a low level with pronounced regional disparities and temporal characteristics. The kernel density distribution's central tendency has shifted rightward progressively, albeit with a decelerating pace annually. The Markov transition probability matrix suggests a stable CCD across various levels, hinting at "club convergence". Furthermore, both σ -convergence and ß -convergence analyses reveal significant convergence trends in CCD, enhanced by economic growth factors. Using the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) method, we found that regional economic growth disparities significantly influence the CCD's regional variances.

Can major public health emergencies increase the participation of commercial insurance? Evidence from China.

Background: Public health emergencies have a lasting impact on a country's economic and social development. However, commercial insurance can disperse these negative consequences and reduce risk losses. Method: Based on the Chinese Household Tracking Survey and Peking University Digital Inclusive Finance Index, this study employed a difference-in-differences model to test the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on commercial insurance participation and the impact mechanism. Results: The analysis showed that the outbreak of COVID-19 improved residents' risk perception, risk preference and digital finance and promoted their participation in commercial insurance, commercial endowment insurance, and commercial medical insurance. Conclusion: Major public health emergencies can increase commercial insurance participation, but the promotional effect of commercial insurance on rural and low-income individuals is relatively limited. To tap into potential customers, financial institutions should focus on vulnerable societal groups. This study supplements the relevant literature on the impact of major public health emergencies on commercial insurance participation.

Unlocking a greener future: The role of digital finance in enhancing green total factor energy efficiency.

The development of digital finance provides new opportunities for improving energy efficiency and promoting green development. This paper calculates green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) using the super-efficiency SBM model and examines the impact of digital finance on GTFEE. Digital finance has a significant positive impact on GTFEE. Under a bank-dominated financial structure, the positive impact of digital finance on GTFEE is quite significant. In regions with intense banking competition, a large amount of green credit, and lower resource dependence, digital finance is conducive to enhancing GTFEE. Optimizing the allocation efficiency of production factors is an essential mechanism for digital finance to encourage improvements in GTFEE. Digital finance alleviates distortions in factor markets and enhances the matching of the marginal output and the price of capital, labor, and energy factors, thereby facilitating improvements in GTFEE. Further analysis indicates that digital finance has a significant, positive spatial spillover effect on GTFEE, enhancing GTFEE levels in both local and neighboring regions. This study enriches the research on the relationship between digital finance and energy efficiency and provides theoretical foundations and policy references for how digital finance can better serve the green transition of the economy.

How does digital finance reduce carbon emissions intensity? Evidence from chain mediation effect of production technology innovation and green technology innovation.

The digitalization of finance drives economic development and plays a crucial role in energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. Utilizing carbon emissions data from 2011 to 2020, we find that digital finance development can mitigate carbon emissions intensity (CEI) by approximately 0.14 %. Then, we employ a diverse set of robustness and endogeneity tests to assess the reliability of the empirical findings. Moreover, the study delves into how digital finance impacts CEI through production technology innovation (PTI) and green technology innovation (GTI). The results indicate a positive effect of PTI on CEI. GTI exerts a negative influence on CEI. In addition, there is a chain mediation effect between PTI and GTI in the baseline path. Finally, the impact of digital finance on CEI exhibits apparent regional heterogeneity.

Digital finance, financial regulation and transformation of R&D achievements.

The transformation of scientific and technological achievements is the best form of the combination of technology and the economy, and only when new technologies are transformed into commodities can they be transformed into real productive forces and exert scale effects. With the rapid development of digital finance, it has changed the operating mode of financial markets and consumer behavior. Does digital finance promote the transformation of R&D achievements? We empirically examine this question using the panel data covering 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021. The empirical results indicate that the development of digital finance can improve the transformation rate of R&D achievements. Additionally, we find that the role of digital finance in promoting the transformation of R&D achievements needs to be guaranteed by the level of effective financial regulation. The research conclusions are a relevant reference for the government to improve the transformation rate of scientific and technological achievements.

Digital finance, innovation transformation, and resilient city growth.

Digital finance is a pivotal catalyst for a contemporary economic system and assumes a significant auxiliary function in the establishment of resilient urban centers. This study empirically examines the enabling influence of digital finance on resilient cities using panel data from 287 prefecture-level cities and above in China between 2011 and 2020. The analysis is based on the mechanisms of innovation and transformation. The importance of digital finance in facilitating the development of resilient cities has been observed, with a specific emphasis on its impact on enhancing the adaptive capacity and growth resilience of urban areas. The utilization of digital finance has the potential to expedite the process of transforming urban industrial structures, invigorating innovation and entrepreneurial activities, and serving as a significant catalyst for the development of resilient cities. The analysis of heterogeneity reveals that various aspects of digital finance have varying degrees of influence on urban resilience. Specifically, the depth of utilization of digital finance exerts the most significant impact, followed by the level of digitalization, while the extent of coverage has the least effect. Furthermore, when considering regional distribution, the promotion effect of digital finance on resilient cities diminishes gradually from the eastern to the central and western regions.

Impacts of digital finance on energy efficiency: does environmental regulation matter?

The paper examines how digital finance affects energy efficiency in China using a dynamic panel model and data from 282 cities between 2011 and 2019. The study is based on the hypothesis which is related with digital finance, environmental regulation, and energy efficiency. The results indicate that: (1) Digital finance significantly improves energy efficiency, and this finding is consistent after several tests; (2) Digital finance has a positive effect on energy efficiency in non-resource-based cities, recession and regeneration resource-based cities, and old industrial base cities, but no significant effect on energy efficiency in growth and maturity resource-based cities and non-old industrial base cities; (3) Environmental regulation positively influences how digital finance affects energy efficiency; (4) The impact of digital finance on energy efficiency depends on the degree and tools of environmental regulation. This research offers valuable insights to local governments in China for promoting financial digitization and enhancing energy efficiency.

Can digital finance development drive green transformation in manufacturing? Evidence from China.

Digital finance is a product of emerging technology-enabled innovation in financial services and has a critical impact on the green transformation of the manufacturing industry. We propose a new efficiency measurement model based on the slacks-based measure (SBM) to measure the efficiency of green transformation on regional manufacturing. Chinese interprovincial data from 2010 to 2019 were obtained for the study. In addition, we estimated the effect of digital finance on green transformation of manufacturing using a benchmark panel model. Finally, considering the regional heterogeneity and spatial effects of green transformation efficiency in the manufacturing industry, we constructed a spatial Durbin model based on an economic-geographic nested spatial weight matrix to analyze the spatial influence of digital finance on green transformation in the manufacturing industry. The results show that the green transformation of the manufacturing industry has significant positive spatial spillover effects owing to the existence of competition, demonstration, and economic correlation effects among regions.

How digital finance impacts listed companies' green innovation in China: a product market perspective.

We empirically test whether and how digital finance impact green innovation utilizing data from Chinese listed companies and the Digital Inclusive Finance Index at the city level over the period from 2011 to 2020. The results show the following: (a) digital finance has a positive impact on green innovation, (b) improving consumer demand and strengthening market competition are two important influence channels, (c) customer concentration and corporate social responsibility are two important moderating variables that affect the aforementioned product market mechanisms, and (d) the positive impact of digital finance is more prominent within state-owned enterprises, companies with high financial risks, economically underdeveloped regions, and low-polluting industries. This research provides insights for China and similar economies on how to leverage the significant role of digital finance in achieving their net-zero-carbon targets.