Impact assessment of green finance reform on low-carbon energy transition: Evidence from China's pilot zones

Green finance reform and innovation pilot zones policy (GFRIPZ) is a vital financial system innovation in China to achieve sustainable development. This paper attempts to assess the policy impact of green finance reform on low-carbon energy transition (LCET) on a city-level. The entropy method is adopted to construct LCET comprehensive indexes including 284 prefecture-level cities and a multi-stage DID model is conducted to analyze how green finance reform affects LCET. This study reveals that green finance reform policy significantly accelerates LCET in pilot cities. Moreover, the spatial cross-regional mobility of green finance reform policy accelerating LCET is obvious. The spatial radiation effect of the policy varies with city characteristics of industrial and location. Furthermore, the pilot policy plays a promoting role and spatial radiation effect on LCET through the mechanism of technological progress and green financial product innovation. This paper not only enrich the relevant literature on the environmental impact assessment of GFRIPZ policy, but also provide a practical basis for financial policy innovation to help achieve regional LCET.