Environmental Courts and Green Development: Evidence from China

Environmental courts play an important role in upholding environmental justice and promoting green development. Drawing on the staggered establishment of environmental courts in China since 2007, we adopt a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) framework to assess their impact on green total factor productivity (GTFP). First, we find that cities with environmental courts tend to experience increases in GTFP after their establishment. Second, this effect is more pronounced in regions with stronger governmental environmental commitment, higher enforcement capacity, and non-resource-based urban structures. Third, the mechanism analysis suggests that cities with environmental courts tend to achieve higher GTFP by fostering green innovation, enhancing pollution control, and raising public environmental attention. By adopting an institutional perspective, this paper offers new empirical evidence on the role of environmental courts in advancing green development.