Can Green Bond Financing Improve Corporate Green Technology Efficiency? Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms

Against the backdrop of the global low-carbon transition and the rapid expansion of sustainable finance, green bonds have become an important capital-market instrument for financing environmentally beneficial projects and supporting corporate green transformation. Our research is based on panel data from A-share-listed companies in China between 2013 and 2023, employing a multi-time point Difference-in-Differences (DID) model and a DID model extended with the Dual Machine Learning (DML) estimation method for empirical testing. It further examines potential transmission channels and firm-level heterogeneity. The results show a robust positive association between green bond financing and corporate green technology efficiency. Green bond financing is also associated with weaker financing constraints and more green patent applications. These findings provide firm-level evidence for improving the effectiveness of green bond financing in facilitating corporate green transformation.