The Relationship Between Carbon Market Participation, Green Credit Accessibility, and Loan Pricing: Evidence from Chinese Enterprises
Research on the combined impact of participation in the carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) and accessibility to green credit on corporate loan prices for Chinese listed companies. A panel dataset of 1,842 firm-year observations from 2015 to 2022 was used to conduct a difference-in-differences model with fixed-effects panel regression to examine the causal effect. According to the above results, ETS participation is associated with a rise in loan spreads of about 18–22 basis points, and lenders are thus adding a risk premium for regulatory carbon exposure. At the same time, the improved accessibility of green credit has reduced the loan spread by approximately 21–24 basis points; that is to say, favorable loan policies have effectively lowered borrowing costs for eligible enterprises. ETS participation is negatively associated with green credit accessibility; that is to say, green credit financing somewhat offsets the harm to loan pricing caused by carbon market regulations. The above results have added to the growing body of research at the intersection of environmental regulation and corporate finance, offering reference for both regulators in designing carbon market policies and enterprises in adapting to the dual green-finance and emissions-regulation system.
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