Asymmetric impacts of the policy and development of green credit on the debt financing cost and maturity of different types of enterprises in China

Green credit plays an increasingly important role in promoting environmentally friendly enterprises and limiting polluting enterprises by regulating the flow of social capital to strengthen environmental governance and promote green production in society. Taking China as an example, this paper surveys the asymmetric impacts of the policy and development of green credit on the debt financing cost and maturity of different types of enterprises. It uses the fixed effect model based on the Hausman test and the mediating effect analysis method to quantify the panel data of 52 green enterprises and 81 high-pollution and high-emissions (referred to as “two-high”) enterprises in China from 2001 to 2017. The findings are as follows: (1) both green credit policy and green credit development increase the debt financing cost of “two-high” enterprises, but they reduce the debt financing cost of green enterprises; (2) green credit policy and the development of green credit reduce the debt financing maturity of “two-high” enterprises, while they have little impact on the debt financing maturity of green enterprises; (3) the impact of green credit policy on enterprise debt financing cost and maturity occurs partly through the development of green credit; and (4) with respect to the debt financing cost and maturity, enterprises in economically developed regions are more strongly affected by green credit than those in economically underdeveloped regions. The conclusions will help the government, banks and enterprises make their environmental protection and financing decisions.