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Digital Finance and Green Development: Characteristics, Mechanisms, and Empirical Evidences

Rulong Zhuang, Kena Mi (mikena@nbufe.edu.cn), Menglu Zhi and Chaoyang Zhang
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Rulong Zhuang: School of Business, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
Kena Mi: School of International Trade & Economics, Ningbo University of Finance & Economics, Ningbo 315175, China
Menglu Zhi: School of Business, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
Chaoyang Zhang: School of Business, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: As the emergence of digital finance is relatively short, research results on digital finance mainly focus on products, services, coverage, policies, etc. The mechanism and role of digital finance in influencing green development are still lacking attention. In the above context, this paper used spatial analysis methods to describe spatiotemporal characteristics in detail, and empirically tested the mechanism and path of digital finance affecting green development through spatial econometric models and intermediary models. The results showed that: (1) During the study period, digital finance and green development have been improved to varying degrees, but the inter-provincial differences are still obvious. (2) The spatial trends of digital finance and green development are similar, and the overall performance is “high in the east, low in the west, high in the south, and low in the north”. (3) The empirical tests found that digital finance is an effective force to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP and improve the level of green development. It validates Hypothesis 1. Meanwhile, the Heterogeneity effect is noteworthy due to different regions, types, and levels. (4) The promotion of green development by digital finance is mainly concentrated in the local region and has not yet shown a significant green spillover effect for surrounding areas. It validates Hypothesis 2. (5) Energy structure, industrial upgrading, and technological progress are three paths for digital finance affecting green development. Hypothesis 3 is verified. Finally, the innovation of this paper lies in the design of the research framework, diversity of research methods, and policy implications. The main contribution is to enrich and expand the environmental finance theory and provide detailed empirical evidence. In addition, we put forward effective measures and suggestions including local governments, financial institutions, and enterprises based on the empirical results. Local governments should pay attention to policy implementation and operation effects, financial institutions constantly need to strengthen the supply of advanced digital financial products and services, and enterprises should attach importance to the use of digital financial tools to achieve green and low-carbon development in the future.

Keywords: digital finance; green development; energy structure; industrial upgrading; technological progress; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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