Green finance and corporate credit ratings - Exploring the potential of the sharing economy

• Green finance can significantly enhance corporate credit ratings. • The sharing economy moderates green finance and corporate credit ratings. • The impact of green finance on corporate credit ratings varies by industries. • The impact of green finance on corporate credit ratings varies by regions. In the context of the increasingly close integration of global sustainable development and credit system construction, how green finance influences corporate credit has become an important issue of concern for academia and policymakers. This paper systematically studies the impact of green finance on corporate credit ratings based on data from listed companies in China from 2010 to 2023, and introduces the sharing economy as a moderating factor for analysis. The study finds that green finance can significantly enhance corporate credit ratings, and robustness and endogeneity tests support this conclusion. Furthermore, the sharing economy plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between green finance and corporate credit ratings. In terms of heterogeneity, the promotion effect of green finance on corporate credit ratings is more significant in high-tech industries and eastern regions. The conclusions of this paper have important implications for the optimization of green finance policies, the improvement of credit evaluation systems, and the development of the sharing economy.