The Impact of Green Bond Issuance on Firm’s Green Resource Allocation Efficiency: Insight from Green Total Factor Productivity
Description
This research examines the effect of green bond issuance (GBI) on firm’s green resource allocation efficiency (FGRAE) and explores the underlying mechanisms. The results show that GBI significantly improve FGRAE, mainly by contributing to technical progress and best green technology gap. The results hold under various robustness checks, primarily including a placebo test, propensity score matching (PSM), greenwashing test, and heterogeneous treatment effects. Further mechanism analysis reveals the mediating role of promoting green innovation, alleviating financing constraints, and increasing investor attention in positive effect of GBI on FGRAE. We observe stronger effects in firms with larger size, lower debt liability and higher R&D investment, industries with higher pollution intensity, and regions with stricter climate regulation through heterogeneity analysis. Further analysis finds that firms with multiple GBI (MGBI) experience a stronger positive impact on FGRAE, and green bonds issued for refinancing show no substantial effect. Our empirical findings emphasize the role of GBI in driving synergies between the environmental and economic performance, rather than merely serving as a greenwashing tool.