绿色债券、碳减排效应与经济高质量发展

Green Bonds,Carbon Emission Reduction Effect and High-quality Economic Development

绿色债券是绿色金融体系的重要组成部分,具有“绿色”和“金融”双重属性,其发行能否降低二氧化碳排放?目前较少有学者研究。文章从宏观视角对绿色债券的碳减排效应及其内在机制进行了研究,并基于绿色全要素生产率验证了绿色债券对经济高质量发展的影响。研究发现:(1)绿色债券能够显著降低城市碳排放强度,并且该效应在金融市场化程度较高和环境规制力度较弱的地区更明显,该结论在经过内生性问题处理和一系列稳健性测试后仍然成立。(2)机制分析表明,一方面,绿色债券通过缓解企业融资约束提升了环保投资水平;另一方面,发行绿色债券有助于提高发行主体的社会关注度,从而促进其更好地履行环境社会责任。(3)进一步检验发现,绿色债券有助于提高城市绿色全要素生产率,进而促进经济高质量发展。文章的研究不仅证实了绿色债券在经济发展与环境保护中的重要作用,也为进一步发展绿色金融与加速生态文明建设提供了理论依据和政策启示。

Green finance has emerged as a new driving force to promote environmental improvement and resource conservation,guiding technological advancements,accelerating industrial restructuring,and promoting high-quality economic development.In particular,green bonds possess the dual attributes of being both“green” and “financial”,making them a critical component of China's green financial system.Although there have been opposing assumptions regarding the true environmental impact of green bonds,empirical testing is needed to determine their effectiveness in reducing pollution emissions and promoting high-quality economic development.This paper examines the regional carbon emission reduction effect of green bonds and their internal mechanisms,while empirically testing their impact on high-quality economic development based on green total factor productivity(GTFP).The findings indicate that:(1) Green bonds can significantly reduce urban carbon emission intensity,especially in regions with a high degree of financial marketization and weak environmental regulation.(2) Green bonds can improve environmental protection investment by easing financing constraints for enterprises and raising social attention to fulfill environmental and social responsibilities.(3)Green bonds can significantly enhance urban GTFP,thereby promoting high-quality economic development.This study's possible contributions are as follows:(1) From a macro-aggregate perspective,it identifies the causal relationship between green bonds and urban carbon emission intensity,assessing the macroeconomic implications of green bonds and further enriching the literature on the interaction between green bonds and environmental governance.(2) By summarizing the amount of green bonds issued by prefecture-level cities,it evaluates how green bonds can promote high-quality economic development based on the unique characteristics of China's top-down bond market.(3) From the perspective of heterogeneity,it assesses the boundary of the carbon emission reduction effect of green bonds,providing theoretical support and policy guidance for the spatial selection of green financial policies.In conclusion,this paper confirms the vital role of green bonds in achieving a balance between economic development and environmental governance,while also providing a theoretical foundation and policy recommendations for advancing green finance to promote high-quality economic development.