The impacts of green credit policy on green innovation of high-polluting enterprises in China

This paper assesses the effects of the Green Credit Guidelines (GCG) 2012 on the green innovation of high-polluting enterprises (HPEs) in China. We find a significant increase in utility patents following the GCG 2012, indicating a surge in incremental green innovation. However, the policy's impact on invention patents remains marginal, pointing to a dominant trend of compliance-oriented innovation rather than fundamental technological breakthroughs. We find there is long-term effect of GCG 2012 which may be attributable to the enhanced rigor of policy implementation. Additionally, we document that HPEs reduced financial asset investments in anticipation of more stringent credit conditions.