Can Green Credit Policy Promote the High-Quality Development of China’s Heavily-Polluting Enterprises?

Prior literature on the green innovation effects of green credit policies is extensive. However, few scholars have focused on the impact of green credit policies on the high-quality development of heavily-polluting enterprises. Based on this, this study employs the difference-in-differences (DID) model to explore the causal relationship between the Green Credit Guidelines (Guidelines) issued in 2012 and the high-quality development of heavily-polluting enterprises. Additionally, we test whether the effect of upgrading human resources in enterprises strengthens this causal relationship. Our findings suggest that the implementation of the Guidelines has significantly promoted the development quality of heavily-polluting enterprises and the promotion effect is more significant in enterprises with higher development quality, state-owned enterprises, large-scale enterprises, and enterprises in the western region of China. Further research reveals that the effect of upgrading human resources in enterprises has reinforced the positive impact of Guidelines on the high-quality development of enterprises. From the perspective of high-quality development of enterprises, in this paper, we expand the research into the effects of green credit policy, providing a decision-making reference for the promotion and improvement of subsequent green credit policy in the future.