Will Green Finance Contribute to a Green Recovery? Evidence From Green Financial Pilot Zone in China

In the post-epidemic era, green finance plays a more significant role in supporting the “green recovery” of the economy, so it is necessary to evaluate the implementation effect of previous green financial policies. In 2017, the green finance reform and innovation pilot zone set up in five provinces and autonomous regions made an exploration in the development of green finance. From the perspective of micro-enterprises, can this policy play a beneficial policy effect in the long run? Based on the quasi-natural experiment of green finance pilot, using the data of A-share listed companies, this paper empirically tests the impact of pilot policies on the long-term value of green enterprises in pilot areas. It is found that, compared with non-pilot zones, the green finance pilot enables a significant increase in the Tobin Q-measured value of green enterprises in the pilot zones. Heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance pilot has a more significant impact on non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises in traditional industries, large enterprises, and enterprises in the eastern region of China. Green finance pilot zone can achieve better policy effects in areas with stronger environmental impact regulation and higher financial development levels. The mechanism test shows that the green finance pilot affects the long-term value of green enterprises through the capital market effect improving the stock trading activity of enterprises and through the real effect improving the operational efficiency and profitability of enterprises. From the perspective of micro-enterprises, this paper enriches the research on the development effect of green finance and provides theoretical support for the effect evaluation of green finance pilot policies.