A Study On The Impact Of Voluntary Participatory Environmental Regulations On Financing Constraints

Since 2020,General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasised the climate action goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality",which has elevated green and low-carbon development to an unprecedented strategic level.With the clarification of policies related to the double carbon target,whether the relevant policies can fully release the dividends also requires the cooperation of the main body of pollution control.With the further strengthening of environmental regulation and enforcement,enterprises are facing increasing intensity,difficulty and complexity of internal environmental management.At the same time,the environmental problems of enterprises have affected the propensity of the capital market to invest in enterprises,which further manifests itself in the financing of enterprises.In recent years,voluntary environmental regulation has gradually emerged in the public eye and is widely used.Can voluntary environmental regulation alleviate the financing constraints of enterprises?If so,what is the mechanism of action?These are theoretical puzzles and practical problems that need to be solved.In view of this,this paper firstly compares the literature on voluntary environmental regulation and financing constraints,and analyzes the mechanism of voluntary environmental regulation in alleviating financing constraints by drawing on relevant theories such as principal-agent,information asymmetry and Porter’s hypothesis;then,using A-share listed companies in the heavy pollution industry as a research sample,we empirically analyze the impact of voluntary environmental regulation on financing constraints,followed by introducing green innovation as a The role of voluntary environmental regulation on the financing constraint is then discussed,followed by the introduction of green innovation as an intermediary variable;the introduction of the marketisation process as a contextual factor to investigate its moderating role;furthermore,the impact of voluntary environmental regulation on financing costs is discussed;finally,the role of voluntary environmental regulation in different types of enterprises is analysed based on the heterogeneity of enterprise size and property rights.The study found that:(1)voluntary environmental regulation significantly alleviates financing constraints;(2)green innovation plays a significant positive mediating role in the relationship between voluntary environmental regulation and financing constraints,and the marketisation process plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between voluntary environmental regulation and financing constraints.(3)Voluntary participatory environmental regulation can significantly reduce the cost of equity financing and the cost of debt financing for enterprises.(4)Voluntary participatory environmental regulation has a more pronounced effect on the mitigation of financing constraints for small and medium-sized and non-state enterprises.Finally,based on the above findings,this article proposes several suggestions.at the government level,the government should play the role of a guiding light,promote voluntary participatory environmental regulation tools to enterprises and advocate green innovation.At the same time,it should accelerate the market-based process and complete the green credit system.At the enterprise level,enterprises should adjust their perceptions,take the initiative to integrate into the national plan for green development,raise awareness of voluntary compliance with voluntary environmental regulation tools,improve their green innovation capabilities and adapt to the regional marketisation process.