Green Finance, Land Transfer and China’s Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity

Promoting the role of green finance (GF) in agricultural green transformation is essential for easing resource constraints and achieving sustainable agricultural development. Based on provincial-level data from 2006 to 2022, this study considers the China GF reform and innovation pilot zone as a quasi-natural experiment. It empirically examines the impact and mechanism of GF on agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP). The following results are obtained: (1) GF exerts a significant enhancement effect on AGTFP. (2) GF can improve AGTFP by increasing the degree of land transfer (LT). (3) The effect of GF on AGTFP is heterogeneous, and GF has a significant enhancement effect on high-environmental-regulation provinces, the eastern region, and nonmajor grain-producing regions. From these findings, this study suggests accelerating the development level of GF, improving LT policies, continuously stimulating rural entrepreneurial vitality, and further leveraging the role of GF in promoting agricultural green transformation through coordinating regional economic development.