Environmental Regulation, Regional Ecological Compensation, and Corporate Green Investment,

Against the backdrop of increasingly stringent requirements for green transition, the pressure for ecological governance has continued to grow, making corporate green investment an important pathway for promoting energy conservation, emission reduction, and clean production. This study utilizes panel data from publicly listed companies from 2010 to 2023 and employs air quality ecological compensation reward and punishment policies as an exogenous shock to construct a difference-in-differences model to identify the impact of regional ecological compensation policies on corporate green investment. Empirical results demonstrate that regional ecological compensation significantly boosts corporate green investment, and this conclusion remains robust across several robustness tests. Mechanism analysis indicates that regional ecological compensation promotes the growth of green investment by improving corporate cash flow and profitability. Moderating effects show that environmental regulation plays a moderating role in the relationship between regional ecological compensation and corporate green investment. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promoting effect of regional ecological compensation on corporate green investment is more pronounced in the manufacturing sector and eastern regions of China. The findings provide empirical evidence for the optimization of ecological compensation systems and the design of integrated green governance policies.