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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Policy and Governance
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1392419

Driving Green Technology Innovation: The Impacts of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulation and Digital Financial Inclusion

Provisionally accepted
Hongrui Jiao Hongrui Jiao 1,2Hongbing Deng Hongbing Deng 1,2*Shengmei Hu Shengmei Hu 1,2
  • 1 School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
  • 2 Hubei Province Regional Innovation Capability Testing and Analysis Soft Science Base, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A strong environmental regulatory framework enhances green technology innovation (GTI), which is crucial for sustainable economic growth. We construct SDM models by using panel data from 108 cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2010 to 2020 to investigate the effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations(ER) on GTI in local and neighboring cities. The moderating influence of digital financial inclusion(DFI) is also examined within the SDM model. Our findings reveal that: (1) Different types of ER have varying impacts on GTI. (2) Commandand-control environmental regulation (CER) hinders local GTI but promotes GTI in neighboring cities. Both market-based (MER) and public-participation environmental regulations (PER) promote GTI in both local and neighboring cities. (3) DFI positively moderates the impact of ER on GTI by providing flexible finance support to enterprises. The study concludes with policy recommendations to improve environmental regulation systems, enhance regional synergistic governance, and promote digital financial inclusion for green sustainable development.

    Keywords: heterogeneous environmental regulation, Green technology innovation, Digital financial inclusion, SDM model, YREB

    Received: 27 Feb 2024; Accepted: 27 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jiao, Deng and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hongbing Deng, School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.