Research on the Impact of Green Finance on the Realization of the Value of Ecological Products—An Empirical Study from 30 Provinces in China

Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces for the 2011–2024 period, this study empirically analyzes the impact of green finance on the realization of the value of ecological products, as well as the mediating mechanism and spillover effect of green finance. The results show that: (1) Green finance has a positive association with the realization of the value of ecological products. Specifically, for every one standard deviation increase in green finance, the realization of the value of ecological products increases by about 2.77%. (2) The mediating effect reveals that green technology innovation acts as a mediating channel in the relationship between green finance and the realization of the value of ecological products. The indirect effect is 0.1012, and the Bootstrap 95% confidence interval excludes zero. (3) Heterogeneity analysis, based on the interaction coefficient, indicates that a positive relationship between green finance and the realization of the value of ecological products is more obvious in the central region and western region, and in regions with higher levels of ecological industrialization development. (4) A spatial correlation exists in the realization of the value of ecological products. Furthermore, under both the inverse distance square matrix and spatial adjacency matrix, the direct effect of green finance is negative, indicating that green finance may weaken the realization of the value of ecological products in local regions. However, green finance generates positive spillover effects, suggesting that it can exert a favorable influence on the realization of the value of ecological products in adjacent regions.