Research On The Impact Of Green Finance On The Development Of Low-carbon Transition Of The Economy

Climate change is a major long-term challenge facing the world.China attaches great importance to and actively participates in climate governance.In 2020,China made commitments to strive to reach the peak of carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.Under the strategic deployment of two-carbon targets,China has entered the high-quality development stage of low-carbon transition.Green finance is an important tool to support the development of green and low-carbon projects and prevent environmental-climate financial risks,and thus whether and how it can contribute to the implementation of the dual-carbon goals deserves deep consideration,exploration and research.Based on this background,this thesis conducts a general study on the role of green finance in the development of low-carbon transition of economy as well as its mechanisms and characteristics from both theoretical and empirical perspectives,respectively.In the section of theoretical analysis,firstly,this thesis reviews the status quo of green finance in China,following characteristics of green finance system and realistic logic,and proposes the basic research hypothesis that green finance contributes to the low-carbon transition of China’s economy.On this basis,this thesis discusses theoretical mechanisms of the impact of green finance on low-carbon transition of economy from perspectives of green technological innovation and energy structure optimization.Considering the specific practice of China’s green finance and prior theoretical studies,this thesis proposes two hypotheses of innovation-driven effect and energy structure optimization effect of green finance.Furthermore,drawing on theoretical framework and research paradigm of spatial economics,this thesis explores spatial spillover effect of green finance.Considering the characteristics of China’s "top-down" and "bottom-up" green finance practices,and based on the basic factual logic of policy demonstration,inter-regional competition,imitation and learning,this thesis proposes the hypothesis that green finance has spatial spillover characteristics,in that,the positive impact of green finance on low-carbon transition of economy is characterized by "local-neighborhood" reciprocity.In the section of empirical study,using Chinese provincial panel dataset from2010-2019 as research sample and combing with research hypotheses of theoretical analysis,this thesis constructs econometric models to empirically test and analyze the impact of green finance on low-carbon transition of economy in China as well as its mechanisms and spatial characteristics.In terms of models specification,this thesis constructs a linear benchmark model to test the impact of green finance on low-carbon transition of economy,and then,this thesis constructs mechanism test and spatial econometric models to examine the mechanisms and characteristics of the impact of green finance on low-carbon transition of economy;in the part of variables setting,this thesis employs MATLAB data analysis software to obtain the value of carbon emission efficiency of China by using super-efficiency data envelopment analysis that considers non-expected output,and uses it as a proxy variable to measure the low-carbon transition of economy.Additionally,in order to reflect the specific practice of China’s green finance in a relatively comprehensive and objective manner,this thesis uses fixed-base entropy method to construct indicators for the development of green finance from dual dimensions of policy promotion and market development.The empirical findings show that:(1)green finance plays positive roles in promoting low-carbon transition,which helps achieve the win-win goals of economic development and carbon emissions reduction;(2)the greener technological innovation and cleaner energy structure are important channels through which green finance contributes to the low-carbon transition of China’s economy.The green finance promotes the low-carbon transition of the social-economy in China through green innovation-driven effect and energy structure optimization effect;(3)there exists significant spatial spillover of the impact of green finance on low-carbon transition of economy.The impact of green finance on the efficiency of low-carbon economy shows a "local-neighborhood" characteristic,where green finance not only promotes the low-carbon transition of local economy,but also enhances the level of low-carbon transition in neighboring regions through spatial spillover effect.The above results support the hypotheses proposed in theoretical analysis,and conclusions still hold after endogeneity and robustness checks.This study provides empirical evidence on the important roles of green finance in realizing the dual dividends of economic growth and carbon emission abatement.It also opens up new perspectives for understanding the economic and environmental consequences of green finance,and makes references for improving the construction of green financial system to contribute to the dual-carbon targets.This thesis contains 10 figures,24 tables,and 180 references.