The effect of banks’ green credit incentive on corporate energy efficiency: quasi-natural experimental evidence from China

This study treats the incorporation of green credit into China’s macroprudential assessment (MPA) system as a quasi-natural experiment and employs a difference-in-differences approach to investigate its impact on corporate energy efficiency. Using panel data of listed firms from 2013 to 2023, we find that the reform significantly improves the energy efficiency of heavily polluting firms by approximately 6.4% on average, and this effect holds consistently across various robustness checks. The positive effect is more pronounced for firms facing tighter financing constraints, with stronger environmental governance, and operating in regions with stricter environmental regulations. Mechanism tests indicate that the improvement in energy efficiency operates through heightened financing constraints, increased green investment efficiency, and strengthened green innovation. Further analyses reveal that incorporating green credit into the MPA framework also raises corporate marginal labor productivity, marginal capital productivity, and total factor productivity. Overall, our findings provide empirical support for the MPA framework in promoting corporate energy efficiency in China.