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| Is Issuing Green Bonds Helpful in Reducing Corporate Financing Costs？ From the Perspectives of Government Regulation and Environmental Governance |
| ZHANG Xiaoqian, WANG Zhiwei
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| School of Economics, Zhejiang University |
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Abstract As the core element of modern economic development, finance provides support for green transformation and green governance. At present, the main relevant financial products are green credit, green bonds, and carbon account trading. In 2007, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) issued the “Guiding Opinions on Credit Granting for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction” and the “Guidelines of Issuing Green Credit” to standardize heavily polluting enterprises and promote the development of industries related to energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection. In 2012, the CBRC issued the “Green Credit Guidelines” to establish an institutional framework for green finance, guide the rational allocation of bank credit resources, improve the risk-taking of green enterprises, and strengthen the incentive for substantive enterprise innovation. Following the strengthening of green credit regulation, enterprises that do not achieve emission reductions will face rising interest rates, and it will be more difficult for them to obtain loans. The expansion of green credit has promoted the development of China's green financial system, helped enterprises to use financial resources for green governance, and promoted economic transformation and high-quality development.
In contrast to green credit, which concerns banks and pollution-related industries, green bonds can examine the direct impact of green finance at the micro level of enterprises. Issuers of green bonds pay attention to environmental performance and obtain more holdings from long-term investors and green investors than is the case for traditional bonds. The latest research by Chinese scholars finds that the inclusion of green bonds in the qualified collateral policy of the central bank forces brown enterprises to transform into green enterprises, and substantially improves the green innovation of the bond issuers. Green bond issuance has an industry spillover effect, which greatly reduces the bond financing cost of other enterprises in the same industry. Enterprises issue green bonds to obtain market incentives. The improvement of green governance and the alleviation of financing constraints are motivations.
Based on the credit bonds issued by non-financial enterprises from 2010 to 2021, this paper examines the impact of green bonds on the financing cost of enterprises. The results are as follows. First, we find that green bonds substantially reduce corporate financing costs, a result that remains robust after conducting propensity score matching, excluding special industry bonds and the influence of the underwriter rebate ban, and conducting a two-stage least squares analysis based on visible public goods. Second, our results indicate that enterprises' environmental governance and green innovation can considerably improve the market's recognition of green bonds. Finally, this paper reveals the correction effect of government regulation and environmental governance. It examines government regulation from the perspectives of government expenditure and employees, and then analyzes environmental governance from the perspective of environmental entropy and environmental protection inputs. In regions with stronger government supervision abilities and better environmental governance than other regions, green bonds have a stronger role in reducing corporate financing costs. In particular, green bonds help investors to certify the green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises and reduce the financing costs of these enterprises.
In contrast with the literature, this paper attempts to conduct cross-cutting research from three aspects: finance, environmental governance, and government regulation. We make the following three contributions. First, we enrich the research on green finance by conducting our analysis from the perspective of green bonds. It is difficult to conduct research on green credit at the enterprise level because data on bank loans and green labels are required. Conversely, as data on green bonds are publicly disclosed, green bonds can provide samples and details that enable direct observation. Thus, our study provides a research entry point for academia to explore green finance. Second, the conclusion of this paper indicates that green bonds can substantially reduce firms' financing costs. Third, this paper examines the rectifying effect of government regulation at the city level. Government regulation and environmental governance can help strengthen the role of green bonds in reducing financing costs and support the important role of “effective government” in leading green transformation. The government optimizes the allocation of resources and improves public and environmental governance, which helps promote the green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises and enhance market recognition.
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Received: 23 March 2022
Published: 02 October 2023
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