IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v78y2023ics0927538x23000203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When green finance meets banking competition: Evidence from hard-to-abate enterprises of China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhou, Bo
  • Zhang, Cheng

Abstract

Theoretically, banking competition improves the allocation of financial resources, thus increasing the effectiveness of green finance. In this paper, this argument is empirically investigated in the Chinese context. A unique data set containing the banks' geographical location around enterprises is used to measure banking competition, and the mixed impacts of green finance and banking competition on hard-to-abate enterprises are regressed. The results show that banking competition significantly enabled green finance to decrease firm financial performance. The results remained robust after a number of tests and results, and were found to be more apparent among smaller-sized and less financially constrained enterprises. Analysis of the underlying mechanism suggests a significant role of decreasing bank credit and increasing interest payable. Notably, banking competition also significantly assisted green finance's effect on promoting firm-level green innovation. These findings highlight the exploitable role of banking competition for effective green finance, especially in emerging market countries with developing banking systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Bo & Zhang, Cheng, 2023. "When green finance meets banking competition: Evidence from hard-to-abate enterprises of China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:78:y:2023:i:c:s0927538x23000203
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.101954
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X23000203
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.101954?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2005. "Distance, Lending Relationships, and Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 231-266, February.
    2. Zak, Paul J & Knack, Stephen, 2001. "Trust and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(470), pages 295-321, April.
    3. Yildirim, Canan & Efthyvoulou, Georgios, 2018. "Bank value and geographic diversification: regional vs global," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 225-245.
    4. Lin, Yongjia & Fu, Xiaoqing & Fu, Xiaolan, 2021. "Varieties in state capitalism and corporate innovation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    5. Fraisse, Henri & Hombert, Johan & Lé, Mathias, 2018. "The competitive effect of a bank megamerger on credit supply," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 151-161.
    6. Chong-en Bai & Chang-Tai Hsieh & Zheng Song, 2020. "Special Deals with Chinese Characteristics," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 341-379.
    7. Nicolae Garleanu & Jeffrey Zwiebel, 2009. "Design and Renegotiation of Debt Covenants," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 749-781, February.
    8. Song, Malin & Xie, Qianjiao & Shen, Zhiyang, 2021. "Impact of green credit on high-efficiency utilization of energy in China considering environmental constraints," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Kose John & Lubomir Litov & Bernard Yeung, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Risk‐Taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1679-1728, August.
    10. Xi Yang & Chris P. Nielsen & Shaojie Song & Michael B. McElroy, 2022. "Breaking the hard-to-abate bottleneck in China’s path to carbon neutrality with clean hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(10), pages 955-965, October.
    11. Peterson, Lauri & Skovgaard, Jakob, 2019. "Bureaucratic politics and the allocation of climate finance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 72-97.
    12. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    13. Robert Hauswald & Robert Marquez, 2006. "Competition and Strategic Information Acquisition in Credit Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 967-1000.
    14. Fan, Haichao & Peng, Yuchao & Wang, Huanhuan & Xu, Zhiwei, 2021. "Greening through finance?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    15. Zhang, Qi & Yu, Zhi & Kong, Dongmin, 2019. "The real effect of legal institutions: Environmental courts and firm environmental protection expenditure," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    16. Allen Berger & Robert DeYoung, 2001. "The Effects of Geographic Expansion on Bank Efficiency," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 19(2), pages 163-184, April.
    17. Bu, Maoliang & Qiao, Zhenzi & Liu, Beibei, 2020. "Voluntary environmental regulation and firm innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 10-18.
    18. Lv, Chengchao & Bian, Baocheng & Lee, Chien-Chiang & He, Zhiwen, 2021. "Regional gap and the trend of green finance development in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    19. Khaled Elsayed, 2006. "Reexamining the Expected Effect of Available Resources and Firm Size on Firm Environmental Orientation: An Empirical Study of UK Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 297-308, May.
    20. Philippe Aghion & Céline Antonin & Bunel Simon, 2021. "The Power of Creative Destruction," Post-Print halshs-03672082, HAL.
    21. Psillaki, Maria & Tsolas, Ioannis E. & Margaritis, Dimitris, 2010. "Evaluation of credit risk based on firm performance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(3), pages 873-881, March.
    22. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Zhang, Dayong & Chen, Shi & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    23. Tara Rice & Philip E. Strahan, 2010. "Does Credit Competition Affect Small‐Firm Finance?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 861-889, June.
    24. Cornaggia, Jess & Mao, Yifei & Tian, Xuan & Wolfe, Brian, 2015. "Does banking competition affect innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 189-209.
    25. Flammer, Caroline, 2021. "Corporate green bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 499-516.
    26. Cui, Xin & Wang, Panpan & Sensoy, Ahmet & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Pan, Yuying, 2022. "Green Credit Policy and Corporate Productivity: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    27. Zhang, Cheng & Zhou, Xinxin & Zhou, Bo & Zhao, Ziwei, 2022. "Impacts of a mega sporting event on local carbon emissions: A case of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    28. Chuck C Y Kwok & Solomon Tadesse, 2006. "National culture and financial systems," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(2), pages 227-247, March.
    29. Zhang, Cheng & Zhou, Bo & Tian, Xuan, 2022. "Political connections and green innovation: The role of a corporate entrepreneurship strategy in state-owned enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 375-384.
    30. Yao, Shouyu & Pan, Yuying & Sensoy, Ahmet & Uddin, Gazi Salah & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Green credit policy and firm performance: What we learn from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    31. Sudheer Chava, 2014. "Environmental Externalities and Cost of Capital," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2223-2247, September.
    32. Wen, Huwei & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Zhou, Fengxiu, 2021. "Green credit policy, credit allocation efficiency and upgrade of energy-intensive enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    33. Andersen, Dana C., 2017. "Do credit constraints favor dirty production? Theory and plant-level evidence," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 189-208.
    34. Zhang, Dongyang & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Credit policy, uncertainty, and firm R&D investment: A quasi-natural experiment based on the Green Credit Guidelines," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    35. Hollander, Stephan & Verriest, Arnt, 2016. "Bridging the gap: the design of bank loan contracts and distance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 399-419.
    36. Goss, Allen & Roberts, Gordon S., 2011. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1794-1810, July.
    37. Ooi, Chai-Aun & Hooy, Chee-Wooi, 2022. "Muslim CEOs, risk-taking and firm performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    38. Chen, Wen & Zhu, Yufeng & He, Zehui & Yang, Yang, 2022. "The effect of local government debt on green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    39. Huang, Wen & Wu, Ying & Deng, Li, 2021. "Does banking competition stimulate regional innovation? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    40. Shumway, Tyler, 2001. "Forecasting Bankruptcy More Accurately: A Simple Hazard Model," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 101-124, January.
    41. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    42. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xue, Qinyuan & Jin, Yifei & Zhang, Cheng, 2024. "ESG rating results and corporate total factor productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    2. Wu, Dan & Dai, Xingyu & Zhao, Ruikun & Cao, Yaru & Wang, Qunwei, 2023. "Pass-through from temperature intervals to China's commodity futures’ interval-valued returns: Evidence from the varying-coefficient ITS model," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PA).
    3. Jingcheng Li & Menggang Li & Tianyang Wang & Xiuqin Feng, 2023. "Analysis of the Low-Carbon Transition Effect and Development Pattern of Green Credit for Prefecture-Level Cities in the Yellow River Basin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-22, March.
    4. Zhang, Yingying & Wan, Dongqi & Zhang, Lei, 2024. "Green credit, supply chain transparency and corporate ESG performance: evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    5. Xiuli Sun & Cui Zhou & Zhuojiong Gan, 2023. "Green Finance Policy and ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-27, April.
    6. Wei, Qi & Zeng, Sheng & Tao, Qingmei, 2024. "Does bank competition improve borrower welfare? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1353-1368.
    7. Zhou, Bo & Wang, Qunwei, 2024. "FinTech matters in sustainable finance: Does it redistribute the supply of financial services?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Cheng & Zhou, Bo, 2023. "Where should the money go? The green effect of governmental guidance when sustainable finance impacts brown firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Zhou, Bo & Wang, Qunwei, 2024. "FinTech matters in sustainable finance: Does it redistribute the supply of financial services?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Zhang, Wenyue & Ke, Jinjun & Sun, Chuanwang, 2024. "Green innovation of heavily polluting enterprises under environmental liability insurance: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    4. Lian, Yili, 2024. "Financial distress, bank branching deregulation, and customer-supplier relationships," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Xu, Aiting & Zhu, Yuhan & Wang, Wenpu, 2023. "Micro green technology innovation effects of green finance pilot policy—From the perspectives of action points and green value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    6. Guo, Shu & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2023. "Green credit policy and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    7. Huang, Hongyun & Mbanyele, William & Wang, Fengrong & Song, Malin & Wang, Yuzhang, 2022. "Climbing the quality ladder of green innovation: Does green finance matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    8. Tan, Weijie & Shen, Minghao & Pang, Yubiao & Liu, Yiqian, 2024. "Bank agglomeration and corporate environmental responsibility performance: Evidence from Chinese bank branch data," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Qianyi Du & Haoran Pan & Shuang Liang & Xiaoxue Liu, 2023. "Can Green Credit Policies Accelerate the Realization of the Dual Carbon Goal in China? Examination Based on an Endogenous Financial CGE Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-26, March.
    10. Ma, Dan & He, Yuhang & Zeng, Linggang, 2024. "Can green finance improve the ESG performance? Evidence from green credit policy in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    11. Chen, Di & Hu, Haiqing & Wang, Ning & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2024. "The impact of green finance on transformation to green energy: Evidence from industrial enterprises in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    12. Wang, Xiaoyin & Gao, Cuiyun, 2024. "Does green finance policy help to improve carbon reduction welfare performance? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    13. Lin Tian & Liang Han, 2019. "How local is local? Evidence from bank competition and corporate innovation in U.S," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 289-324, January.
    14. Mo Du & Ruirui Zhang & Shanglei Chai & Qiang Li & Ruixuan Sun & Wenjun Chu, 2022. "Can Green Finance Policies Stimulate Technological Innovation and Financial Performance? Evidence from Chinese Listed Green Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-28, July.
    15. Ge, Yongbo & Zhu, Yuexiao, 2022. "Boosting green recovery: Green credit policy in heavily polluted industries and stock price crash risk," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Ma, Yanbai & Lu, Ling & Cui, Jingbo & Shi, Xunpeng, 2024. "Can green credit policy stimulate firms’ green investments?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 123-137.
    17. Cui, Xiaona & Mohd Said, Ridzwana & Abdul Rahim, Norhuda & Ni, Mengjiao, 2024. "Can green finance Lead to green investment? Evidence from heavily polluting industries," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    18. Zhang, Can & Liu, Jingyi & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul & Lucey, Brian, 2025. "Navigating sustainable finance: Examining the impact of sustainable credit policy on energy consumption intensity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    19. Li, Chen & Liu, Zhao & Song, Rong & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2024. "The impact of green credit guidelines on environmental performance: Firm-level evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    20. Zhang, Shengling & Wu, Zihao & He, Yinan & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does the green credit policy affect the technological innovation of enterprises? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:78:y:2023:i:c:s0927538x23000203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.