Impact of regional finance reform and innovation policies on green innovation in pilot cities: A quasi-natural experiment

Green innovation (GI) is crucial for improving public health, and regional financial reform and innovation (RFRI) policies play a key role in promoting financial development (FD) and enhancing innovation capacity (IC), thereby advancing GI. This paper systematically analyzes the relationship between RFRI policies and GI, utilizing panel data from 281 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2021 and employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. The main conclusions of this paper are as follows: First, RFRI policies significantly promote GI in pilot areas, and this conclusion holds after a series of robustness tests. Second, RFRI policies enhance GI by fostering FD and IC. Third, an analysis of individual policies reveals that open and innovative RFRI policies have the most significant impact, while shared policies have a relatively weaker effect. Finally, heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect of RFRI policies on GI is stronger in cities not subject to environmental protection interviews, regions with higher environmental protection taxes, areas with lower public environmental concern, general cities, and eastern regions. This study explores whether RFRI policies can promote GI, providing empirical evidence and policy recommendations for China's financial reforms and the green transformation of its economic development.