Research on the Impact of the Dual Pilot Policy of Low-Carbon City and Green Finance on the Corporate Green Investment

To actively address climate change and promote emission reduction and carbon mitigation, the Chinese government has introduced environmental regulation policies such as low-carbon city pilots and green finance reform innovation pilot zones to drive the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy. Corporate green investment plays an indispensable role in this process. Against this backdrop, this paper treats the implementation of China's low-carbon city pilots and green finance reform innovation pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on a sample of A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2022, the study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) approach to empirically examine the synergistic effects of these two pilot policies on corporate green investment. It also compares the differences in the implementation effects of dual pilot policies (low-carbon city and green finance reform innovation pilot zones) versus single pilot policies. The findings reveal that: (1) both the low-carbon city pilot and the green finance reform innovation pilot zone policies significantly promote corporate green investment, (2) the dual pilot policies effectively enhance the scale of corporate green investment, and (3) the dual pilot policies have a stronger impact on promoting corporate green investment compared to the implementation of either the low-carbon city pilot or the green finance reform innovation pilot zone alone, indicating a synergistic effect between the two policies. From the perspective of corporate green investment, this study provides theoretical support for promoting corporate green and low-carbon transformation and the green development of the economy. It offers policy recommendations for advancing low-carbon urban green development practices, including summarizing and promoting pilot experiences, adopting differentiated strategies tailored to local conditions, strengthening regional green innovation cooperation, and encouraging the synergistic integration of "environmental governance" and "financial development."