Study on the Coupling Coordination and Spatial Correlation Effect of Green Finance and High-Quality Economic Development—Evidence from China

Abstract

The article aims to study the coupling coordination and spatial correlation effects of green finance (GF) and high-quality economic development (HQED) in 30 Chinese provinces. The index system of GF and HQED is constructed by selecting relevant index data from 2007 to 2017. The index of GF and HQED is measured by the entropy value method. Next, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) and spatial association strength are calculated based on the index using the coupling coordination degree model and the gravity model. Then the driving factors of the CCD between GF and HQED are analyzed by using geographic detectors. Finally, the spatial association network is constructed and its robustness is studied. The research results show that the coupling coordination degree between GF and HQED in each province is generally low, with strong regional heterogeneity, and the coupling coordination degree shows a trend of decay from the eastern region to the western region, but the western region has more room for development. Green credit, green, coordination, and sharing are the strong driving factors of the CCD between GF and HQED. The network of spatial association between GF and HQED in each province is gradually tightened, making the western peripheral provinces more closely connected with the eastern provinces through the intermediate node provinces. The network robustness of GF and HQED is more influenced by provinces with higher node degree values. Accordingly, the article proposes that China should continuously improve relevant GF policies, environmental disclosure systems, enhance green innovation technology and guide private capital to enter the GF market.

The Spatial Heterogeneity Effect of Green Finance Development on Carbon Emissions

“…From the first perspective, the development level of regional green finance is measured from the capital supply side. For example, Zhou et al (2022) measure the development of green finance from the supply side of green credit, green insurance, green investment, and carbon finance [ 4 ]. From the second perspective, starting from the capital demand side, the financial data of green-listed companies are used for comprehensive analysis to characterize the development of green finance [ 16 ].…”

“…As mentioned above [ 4 , 16 , 17 ], we start from the supply side of green finance funds. In order to reflect green finance more comprehensively, according to the Guidelines for Establishing the Green Financial System, issued by the People’s Bank of China, and referring to the indicators selected by Zhou et al (2022) [ 4 ], Chen and Chen (2021) [ 2 ], Liu et al (2021) [ 14 ], Liu et al (2019) [ 15 ], and other scholars, the development level of green finance is defined from four aspects: green credit, green insurance, green securities, and green investment. Specifically:…”

“…According to the high energy consumption industry classification standard formulated by the National Development and Reform Commission (the classification standard of high energy-consuming industries, formulated by the National Development and Reform Commission, selects six high energy-consuming industries—the electricity, thermal production, and supply industry; ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing; non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing; the non-metallic mineral products industry; the petroleum processing, coking, and nuclear fuel processing industry; and the chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry), the high energy consumption industry is selected. The ratio of six high energy-consumption industrial interest expenditures to the total industrial interest expenditure is used to reflect the development level of green credit [ 4 ]. In the current industry, loan interest rate difference is small, the industry interest expenditure is mainly related to the loan scale, and the proportion of interest expenditure indirectly reflects the proportion of the loan scale [ 4 ].…”

“…In 2019, the development of green finance in China transformed from quantity to quality. Researchers are also paying attention to green finance development [ 4 ]. Recent studies focus on theory, practice, and economic growth and investigate the development of green finance in China from various aspects [ 5 ], such as policies, structure, and environmental benefits [ 5 ].…”

“…Recent studies focus on theory, practice, and economic growth and investigate the development of green finance in China from various aspects [ 5 ], such as policies, structure, and environmental benefits [ 5 ]. With the deepening development of green finance, researchers examine the effect of green finance on environmental protection [ 4 ]. Some studies point out that when green finance is effective, this improved financial development leads to higher environmental quality [ 6 ].…”