The green credit policy is an important green financial tool that can achieve the win-win scenario with economic development and environmental protection through the reasonable allocation of credit resources. Using the green credit guidelines (GCGs) in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this study explored the impacts of the green credit policy on the capital investment of energy-intensive enterprises in a difference-in-differences framework and established the mediation effect model to analyze the mechanisms. The empirical results showed that the capital investment of energy-intensive enterprises was significantly reduced after the promulgation of the GCGs. Considering the intermediary paths along with the green credit policy on energy-intensive investment through financial constraints, the total bank loans and long-term bank loans played partial intermediary roles, whereas the short-term bank loans as mediator variable showed no significant intermediary effect. The findings of this study illustrated that the green credit policy has been well implemented and promoted in China. It inhibited energy-intensive investment, which is of great significance to improving the efficiency of resource utilization and promoting green and low-carbon development.
Keywords: Capital investment; Difference-in-differences; Financial constraint; Green credit guidelines; Mediation effect.