Green finance reform and enterprise green technology innovation—based on the perspective of spatial spillover effect

Green finance reform is a powerful support for green technology innovation, and an important impetus for accelerating the overall green transformation of economic and social development. This study innovatively starts from the perspective of spatial correlation, takes Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2019 as the research sample, regards the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zone as a quasi-natural experiment, and examines the spatial spillover impact of green finance reform on enterprises' green technology innovation by using difference-in-difference method and spatial econometric model. It is found that the establishment of green finance reform and innovation pilot zone not only promotes the green technology innovation of enterprises in pilot regions, but also drives the green technology innovation of neighboring cities through the spatial spillover effect. Mechanism analysis shows that the increase of financing scale and the decrease of financing cost are important channels for green finance reform to exert innovation effect. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the innovation effect of green finance reform is more significant for large-size enterprises, enterprises in industries with lower competition intensity, and enterprises located in cities with higher financial development level. This study provides empirical evidence for systematically assessing the policy effects of green finance reform, which is of great practical significance for promoting the construction of a green and low-carbon circular economic system.