Green technology innovation and financial development: Do environmental regulation and innovation output matter?

This research combines the DEA-SBM (Data Envelopment Analysis-Super Slack Based Measure) model and GML (Global Malmquist-Luenberger) index to measure the efficiency of green technology innovation in 30 provinces of China from 2003 to 2017. It uses financial structure, financial scale, and financial efficiency to describe the de-gree of financial development and examines the relationship between financial development and green technol-ogy innovation. We further analyze the moderating effect of environmental regulation and the mediating effect of innovation output, first offering evidence that there are differences in the impact of financial structure, finan-cial scale, and financial efficiency on green technology innovation. Second, financial structure is conducive to the development of green technology innovation, while financial scale and financial efficiency have a negative im-pact on green technology innovation. Third, environmental regulation plays a positive role as a moderating effect between financial structure and green technology innovation, but a negative role as a moderating effect between financial efficiency and green technology innovation. Fourth, innovation output has a mediating role between fi-nancial development and green technology innovation. Finally, there is an integrated boundary role that environ-mental regulation has between financial development, innovation output, and green technology innovation. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study combines financial structure, scale, and efficiency to examine the relationship between financial development and green technology innovation in 30 provinces of China from 2003 to 2017. The findings suggest that financial structure is conducive to green technology innovation, while financial scale and efficiency have a negative impact on it. Additionally, environmental regulation plays a moderating and mediating role in this relationship.