Green finance policy and enterprise energy consumption intensity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

• Published in: Energy economics Vol. 115
• Main Authors: Su, Zhifang, Guo, Qianqian, Lee, Hsiang-Tai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.11.2022
• Subjects: Energy consumption intensity (ECI); Environmental governance; Green finance pilot zones policy (GFPZP); Green innovation; Q48; Q58; Environmental governance; Green finance pilot zones policy (GFPZP); Energy consumption intensity (ECI); Green innovation; G18
• ISSN: 0140-9883; 1873-6181
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106374

Taking the “Green Finance Pilot Zones Policy (GFPZP)” in China in 2017as a quasi-natural experiment, we adopt the difference-in-differences (DID) method to explore the influence of the green finance policy on the energy consumption intensity (ECI) of Chinese A-share listed enterprises. The empirical results reveal that GFPZP exhibits energy-saving effect on enterprises and the impacts of GFPZP on the ECI of enterprises are heterogeneous from perspectives of regional development, industry discrepancies, and enterprise -specific characteristics. GFPZP reduces the ECI of enterprises via both channels of green innovation and environmental governance. Our results facilitate a better understanding of the effectiveness of China's green finance policies on enterprise energy consumption. •Apply DID method to study the Green Finance Pilot Zones Policy (GFPZP) effect.•The impact of GFPZP on energy consumption intensity (ECI) is investigated.•GFPZP exhibits energy-saving effect on Chinese A-share listed enterprises.•The impacts of GFPZP on the ECI of enterprises are heterogeneous.•GFPZP reduces the ECI via green innovation and environmental governance.