Substantive green innovation or symbolic green innovation: The impact of fintech on corporate green innovation

The profound impact of fintech on the direction of corporate green innovation warrants an in-depth investigation, as it plays a crucial role in fostering a new engine of economic sustainable development. This paper provides firm-level evidence to explore a significant enhancement of fintech in total, substantive and symbolic green innovation, verifying that fintech is more conducive to substantive green innovation. This impact operates mainly through the effects of cost reduction, including pre-lending review and post-loan supervision, and expected return effects. However, the issue of the patent bubble brought by fintech through expected market return stimulation is worth noting.