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.

Obscuring effect of income inequality and moderating role of financial literacy in the relationship between digital finance and China's household carbon emissions.

Households have emerged as one of the primary sources for carbon emissions in China, thus posing challenges to the "dual carbon" objectives. Digital finance, an emergent form of industry that fused advanced technology with financial services, had a pronounced impact on household carbon emissions stemming from daily consumption. However, the mechanisms driving this impact have not been adequately examined. Based on micro-level household survey data across 25 Chinese provinces from 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018, the study identified the chief channels via which digital finance affected household carbon emissions, deriving several key findings. First, digital finance augmented household carbon emissions, presenting a significant negative impact on the climate. Second, due to the existence of "digital divide" between rural and urban areas, the impact of digital finance was more subdued in rural areas. Additionally, the effects of digital finance were more pronounced in the affluent eastern provinces. Third, income mobility obscured the positive relationship between digital finance and household carbon emissions. This is primarily attributed to the urban-rural divide in China; taking into account that urban-to-rural transfers make income distribution more equitable, there is a counterintuitive drop in per capita consumption, thereby suppressing consumption-related carbon emissions. This presented the conundrum of "income distribution equality-consumption negativity". Finally, financial literacy was identified as a crucial positive moderating role, enabling households with high financial literacy to harness the dividends of digital finance, thereby engaging in more diversified consumption activities and intensifying the negative impact of digital finance on carbon emissions. The findings reinforced the pivotal role of digital finance in bolstering efforts to combat climate change and ensuring environmentally-responsible economic advancements.

Can carbon emission trading policy break China's urban carbon lock-in?

Greenhouse gas emissions from the use of fossil energy are the main drivers of global warming. China's dominant consumption of fossil energy necessitates adjustments in its energy consumption structure to break free from the carbon lock-in (CLI) phenomenon. Market-based environmental regulations, represented by the carbon trading market (CTM), play an important role in achieving the dual carbon goals of China. Using panel data of 270 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2020, this study applies a difference-in-difference model to identify the effect of CTM on urban CLI, analyze its transmission mechanism, and further examine the impact of urban characteristic heterogeneity on policy effects from multiple perspectives. Results show that the construction of CTM significantly reduces the degree of CLI of pilot cities; (2) CTM mainly affects urban CLI by promoting urban green technology innovation, industrial structure upgrading, and public green behavior; and (3) the inhibitory effect of CTM on CLI is more significant in cities with high carbon price, industrialization, and digital finance levels. The primary paths toward realizing carbon unlocking include optimizing the institutional design for CTM, enhancing the effective promotion and application of low-carbon technologies, cultivating the green awareness of the public, and increasing government investments in energy-saving and emission reduction techniques.

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.

Impact of digital finance on energy-based carbon intensity: Evidence from mediating effects perspective.

This research measures energy-based carbon intensity based on energy consumption of 30 Chinese provinces and investigates the impact of digital finance. First, the baseline results were examined through panel data model. Second, we reveal the "black box" system of digital finance and energy-based carbon intensity through mediating effects model. Third, by employed panel quantile regression model, we examine the heterogeneity of the effects of various factors under different carbon intensity quantile. The main quantitative results are as follows: (1) Digital finance shows significant sustainable effect, and its growth of 1% will reduce the carbon intensity by about 0.092%. (2) The intermediary effects of technological innovation and energy structure are -0.0663 and 0.007, respectively, accounting for 41.88% and 19.36% of the total effects. Both are significant transmission mechanisms. (3) When the carbon intensity in >0.9 quantile, digital finance shows a positive coefficient. On the contrary, the coefficient at <0.75 quantile is negative and its absolute value increases with the decrease of quantile. It shows that with the reduction of carbon intensity, the positive impact of digital finance gradually increases. (4) In the eastern, central and western regions, a 1% increase in digital finance will reduce the carbon intensity by 0.147%, 0.096% and 0.089% respectively. This research provides a reference for regional governments to use digital finance tools to promote sustainable development.

How does digital finance affect industrial structure upgrading? Evidence from Chinese prefecture-level cities.

Digital finance is playing an increasingly prominent role in economic development. This paper examines the impact of digital finance on industrial structure upgrading based on panel data from 289 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2020. The paper adopts fixed effects, mediating effects, and spatial econometric models and the findings are as follows. First, digital finance development significantly boosts industrial structure upgrading in Chinese cities. The evidence remains valid after various robustness tests. Second, digital finance and industrial structure upgrading exhibit positive spatial spillover effects. Third, digital finance indirectly affects industrial structure upgrading through innovation, entrepreneurship and the structure of household consumption channels. Fourth, the influence of digital finance is more significant in cities with more developed economies, less financialization and lower income inequality. Finally, among the sub-indicators of digital finance, the breadth of coverage plays the most significant role, inspiring policymakers and financial institutions to speed up the digitization infrastructure in backward areas.

What role does digital finance play in low-carbon development? Evidence from five major urban agglomerations in China.

In the epoch of the digital economy, digital finance (DF) has become an indispensable engine driving the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. The issues of how DF can be used to alleviate environmental pressure and how a long-term governance mechanism for carbon emissions reduction be formed have become particularly important. Based on the panel data of five national urban agglomerations in China from 2011 to 2020, this study utilizes the panel double fixed-effects model and chain mediation model to verify the impact mechanism of DF on carbon emissions efficiency (CEE). Some valuable findings are drawn below. First, the overall CEE of the urban agglomerations has potential for improvement, and the CEE and DF development level of each urban agglomeration have regional heterogeneity. Second, a U-shaped correlation is observed between DF and CEE. Technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading have a chain mediating effect in DF affecting CEE. In addition, the breadth and depth of DF have a notable negative impact on CEE, and the digitalization degree of DF shows a significant positive correlation with CEE. Third, the influencing factors of CEE have regional heterogeneity. Finally, this study provides relevant suggestions based on the empirical conclusions and analysis.

Identifying the nexus among environmental performance, digital finance, and green innovation: New evidence from prefecture-level cities in China.

Globally, nations are increasingly focusing on green innovation in their environmental protection efforts as part of sustainable development, and digital finance is playing a vital role in enhancing green innovation. Employing annual data from 220 prefecture-level cities between 2011 and 2019, we empirically analyze the connections among environmental performance, digital finance, and green innovation via the Karavias panel unit root test with structural breaks, the Gregory-Hansen structural break cointegration test and pooled mean group (PMG) estimation. The following four points are the key conclusions: (1) The results support cointegration links between these variables when structural breaks are considered. (2) The PMG estimation outcomes indicate that green innovation and digital finance may have a favorable long-term effect on environmental performance. (3) For better environmental performance and more green innovation, the level of digitalization of digital finance is crucial. (4) The potential of digital finance and green innovation to improve environmental performance has not been fully realized in the western region of China.

A blessing in disguise-The effect of China's Covid-19 health code system on older people's mobile payment usage.

In early 2020, China launched a health code system to combat the spread of Covid-19. The required health code led to a drastic uptake of smartphone usage among older residents. This paper uses rich commercial data from the Zhejiang Province of China to track the change in consumption among the older population. The paper finds that older people significantly increased spending after switching to mobile payment. The paper contributes to the literature by identifying the unexpected windfall from the effect of the health code mandate on the older population and demonstrating that digital payment works well in the older population.

How does digital finance influence green technology innovation in China? Evidence from the financing constraints perspective.

Green innovation activities of enterprises often fall into the dilemma of financing constraints. Hence, it is urgent that the financial system develops and becomes innovative, especially for a developing country like China. Existing literature mainly explores the influencing factors of green innovation from the environmental regulation, economic growth and government subsidies perspective. However, few papers critically study how digital finance influences green innovations. To explore the internal influencing mechanism of digital finance on the quantity and quality of green technology innovation, panel data of 271 prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2019 in China is used. Based on theoretical analysis and empirical research, we get the following conclusions. First, digital finance can improve the quantity and quality of green technological innovation, which has become a significant driving force for green innovations in China. The results are still robust after the endogeneity tests. Second, the results of heterogeneous analysis indicate that the different dimensions of digital finance can improve green innovations. They include breadth of coverage, depth of use, and degree of digitization. The positive effect of digital finance is most substantial in eastern cities, followed by central cities, and weakest in western cities. Third, digital finance indirectly improves green innovation mainly by alleviating financing constraints. Our empirical results provide policy enlightenment for realizing the coordination of China's urban digital transformation and green economic development.

The impacts of digital finance development on household income, consumption, and financial asset holding: an extreme value analysis of China's microdata.

This paper examines the roles of digital finance development in household income, consumption, and financial asset holding from an extreme value theory perspective. Three types of extreme pairs (Min to Min, Max to Max, and Max to Min) are constructed, corresponding to the three aspects of the economic welfare of digital finance: fairness, efficiency, and their trade-off. Using panel data from the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index of China (PKU-DFIIC) and China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) over time span 2014-2018, this paper models the block maxima and minima of variables by fitting them with generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. The binary expansion testing (BET) is used to detect the nonlinear dependence between digital finance and household economic variables. The tail quotient correlation coefficient (TQCC) is used to quantify the tail dependencies. The results show that: (1) digital finance has significant fairness effects in reducing poverty, increasing consumption, and promoting financial asset holding; (2) digital finance shows effects of promoting incentives and efficiency in household income and financial asset holding, but this effect is relatively limited in household consumption; (3) digital finance generally increases efficiency without harming fairness in terms of all cases of household income and consumption, and most of the cases regarding household financial asset holding; (4) the positive spatial externality of digital finance exists for all household economic variables; and, for pairs regarding household income and consumption, the wider the scope, the greater the spatial spillover effect. The result of this paper implies many novel policy implications.

Digital finance and green innovation efficiency: empirical data from Chinese listed manufacturing companies.

Amid the flourishing digital economy, digital finance overcomes the constraints of the conventional financial model and largely improves the supply efficiency and use of funds. This provides new opportunities for manufacturing corporations to improve their green innovation efficiency. Employing Chinese Shenzhen and Shanghai A-share listed manufacturing corporations between 2011 and 2021, this paper conducts an empirical analysis to study the effect of digital finance on corporate green innovation efficiency. Discoveries suggest that digital finance significantly improves manufacturing corporations' green innovation efficiency. After a few robustness tests, the results are still accurate. According to a mechanism analysis, digital finance increases the effectiveness of green innovation in manufacturing corporations by removing financing constraints. According to the heterogeneity analysis, the impact of digital finance on manufacturing corporations exhibits distinctive financial and geographical regional heterogeneity, particularly accentuated in Zhejiang Province and the central and western regions. This paper can provide a valuable reference for digital finance in supporting manufacturing corporations in green innovation ventures and improving the level of green innovation in the context of digitalization.

Impact of digital finance on urban ecological resilience: evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China.

From the emergence of the new coronavirus pandemic to extreme climatic catastrophes, the development and enhancement of urban ecological resilience has evolved into a critical and strategic imperative. Investigating the capacity of digital finance to promote urban ecological resilience bears substantial relevance to the sustainable advancement of urban centers. This study examines the influence of digital finance on urban ecological resilience by applying a benchmark regression model on data from 107 prefecture-level cities within the Yangtze River Economic Belt across 2011-2020. Additionally, this study delves into its mechanism and spatial spillover impacts via a mediating effect model and a spatial effect model. The findings revealed that (1) digital finance strengthens the ecological resilience of the locale and beneficially impacts the surrounding regions; (2) digital finance enhances urban ecological resilience by fostering technological innovation and reducing energy intensity; and (3) in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, digital finance plays a greater role in improving urban ecological resilience. Cities with high level of traditional financial development, high level of economic development and high intensity of environmental regulation have a more obvious role in promoting urban ecological resilience. Within the paradigm of ecological civilization, it is advisable for governmental bodies to fortify inter-regional digital financial collaboration, refine the green financial infrastructure, and advocate for sustainable, low-carbon, high-quality urban development.

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.

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.

Influence of digital finance on export green-sophistication.

The export green-sophistication (EGS) is not only an important engine for the high-quality development of China's economy but also the external embodiment of the core international competitiveness and the key to resisting external competition and realizing the upgrade of the value chain. Using the database of China's digital finance development, China's A-share listed enterprises, and the China Customs database, we test the relationship between digital finance (DF) and the EGS of enterprises. It shows that DF significantly promotes listed enterprises' EGS, and compared to the depth of use of DF and digitization degree of DF, the promotion effect of coverage breadth of DF is the most significant. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effect is more conspicuous for promoting the EGS in private enterprises, general trade enterprises, central and western regions' enterprises, and enterprises exporting to developed countries. The mechanism test finds that alleviating financing constraints and promoting green technological innovation are the two channels for DF to promote the enterprises' EGS. This study not only advances the understanding of the economic effects of DF but also implies the green transformation of China's exports.

Measuring the performance of green investment portfolios for zero-carbon environment: a comparative analysis of digital finance and asset-backed securities.

This study presents a comparative examination of the performance of green investment portfolios to attain a zero-carbon environment by studying assests-backed securities. Using the portfolio return, the draw ratio, or the ROMAD as measures, the numerical findings. The study intention is to measure and assess the success of green investment portfolios. This will probably include weighing the costs and advantages of several routes toward a carbon-free future, and the major emphasis is on measuring the effectiveness of financial investments in promoting ecological sustainability. The research specifically examines the use of digital finance and asset-backed securities (ABS). This research evaluates the efficacy of these two methodologies in promoting sustainable investments, using relevant scholarly literature and empirical evidence. The study examines many essential indicators, including risk-adjusted returns, carbon footprint reduction, and market stability. The research elucidates the merits and drawbacks of various approaches in fostering ecologically sustainable investments, drawing on case studies and real-world illustrations. The results of this study provide valuable insights into how digital finance and asset-backed securities (ABS) might effectively contribute to the attainment of zero-carbon objectives, all the while maintaining financial stability. This study provides valuable insights for politicians, investors, and financial institutions to make well-informed choices on implementing these initiatives in the context of sustainable development.

Research on the impact and mechanism of digital capabilities and digital finance on household wealth in the context of aging.

China has entered a period of synchronous development between digitalization and aging. Based on the data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) and multi-group analysis were used to analyze the impact mechanism of digital capabilities and digital finance on the wealth of elderly households. The results indicate that digital capabilities and digital finance can improve the wealth level of households headed by the elderly through direct and indirect paths. The indirect effects of digital capabilities and digital finance on elderly household wealth are all exerted through the node of business and property income, and entrepreneurship/investment are mediating variables. Moreover, digital capabilities have a greater impact on the wealth of elderly households in the central and western China regions, while digital finance has a greater impact in the eastern China regions. In addition, there is no significant difference in the effect of digital capabilities on business and property income across regions, while digital finance has a larger effect in the eastern region. The above conclusions can provide theoretical and practical support for realizing active aging and common prosperity in different countries and regions.

Exploring the moderating role of digital finance in the two-way foreign direct investment and green technology innovation nexus: an empirical evidence from China.

Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2011 to 2020, this paper explores the relationship between two-way FDI and green technology innovation and examines the moderating role of digital finance in the impact of two-way FDI on green technology innovation. The results show that (1) two-way FDI can significantly enhance the level of green technology innovation. (2) Digital finance plays a moderating effect in the process of two-way FDI to enhance the level of green technology innovation. The conclusion is still robust by replacing the dependent variable, eliminating special samples and shrinking the tail. (3) The results of sub-dimensional analysis show that the three sub-dimensions indicators of the digital finance also have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between two-way FDI and green technology innovation. (4) The results of sub-regional regression show that the moderating effect in the central and western regions is greater than that in the eastern region. The results of the study can provide reference for governments to formulate policies about digital finance, which is conducive to achieve high-quality opening-up and realize green development.

The role of digital finance for the growth of renewable energy: evidence from China.

Developing renewable energy (RE) is the inevitable choice for China to achieve its climate goals. However, financing RE investments remains challenging. Meanwhile, China's digital finance (DF) is profoundly influencing the trajectory of the energy transition. This study empirically investigates the role of DF on the growth of RE, what aspects of DF matter, and its geographical attenuation process, taking both spatial and temporal dimensions into consideration. The empirical results show that DF and its coverage breadth and usage depth can facilitate RE development in both local and neighboring regions, with a comparatively limited effect of digitalization level. The impact of DF on the growth of RE is heterogeneous and has been declining over time. Specifically, this effect is observable only in the eastern regions. The spillover effects of DF on RE development vary in different spatial thresholds, which has clear boundary effects and geographical decay characteristics.