Green sustainable development is a major challenge faced by countries worldwide. Against the strategic background of innovation-driven development, studying the impact of science and technology finance policy (STFP) on urban green development is of great practical significance. Based on urban panel data from 2003 to 2019, this study systematically examines whether and how STFP affects urban green development in China using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. The empirical results show that STFP has significantly stimulated the urban green development level, and the effect of policy implementation has increased first and then decreased over time. The findings remain robust when using propensity score matching DID to avoid selection bias and other factors that may interfere with the estimation results. Additionally, technological innovation and green innovation are essential channels for STFP to improve urban green development. The impact of STFP is found to vary by region and by the level of urban innovation. Specifically, the policy effect is more pronounced in midwestern and high-innovation cities but less obvious in eastern and low-innovation cities. In conclusion, this study provides city-level empirical evidence from China for an in-depth understanding of the green economy effect of STFP. It also provides theoretical guidance and policy references for accelerating the green transition in the context of sustainable development.

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In the past 40 years, the continuous strengthening of the greenhouse effect has led to a significant increase in the global average temperature. Although people’s understanding of climate change has been strengthened, the world has not yet witnessed a significant decline in pollutant emissions; hence it is imperative to get to the root cause. This paper is based on the STIRPAT model framework and uses the panel data of G20 countries over the period 1999–2019 to examine the role of financial development on carbon emissions under good governance. The results show that financial development significantly promotes carbon dioxide emissions, and the impact presents an inverted “U”-shaped trend when the quadratic term of financial development is introduced. Surprisingly, governance quality indicators increase carbon emissions. However, financial development accompanied by good governance suppresses carbon emissions. Moreover, according to the grouped results of developed and developing countries, different nations should adopt differentiated strategies in development finance to implement the carbon emission targets proposed by the G20. In addition, this paper also confirms the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. In light of this, policymakers should optimize the quality of governance while shifting their agendas toward environmentally responsible financial practices to promote financial development to improve environmental quality effectively. Furthermore, strengthen international cooperation, enhance public environmental protection concepts, and take joint actions to achieve low-carbon and win-win results.

Deeply investigating the relationship between governance, financial development, and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is beneficial to formulating effective policies to accelerate Chinese firms’ pace of overseas expansion. Based on the theoretical mechanism analysis, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of Asian governance and financial development on China’s OFDI using the panel data of 37 Asian countries from 2003 to 2017. The results show that the host country governance has a negative and statistically significant impact on China’s direct investment in Asia. The conclusion remains valid even after overcoming the interference of endogenous and economic cycle fluctuations. Moreover, using the mediating effect model, we find that financial development is an important channel through which host country governance affects China’s OFDI. In further discussion, the findings suggest that with the scale of OFDI expanding, the role of governance takes an inverted "U" shape, and the "Belt and Road" initiative (BRI) weakens the negative impact of governance quality on China’s OFDI. Furthermore, governance has shown more remarkable restraint on China’s OFDI in neighboring, coastal, and low-income countries in the heterogeneity test. ​From the perspective of host country governance, this paper provides more specific guidance to formulate China’s direct investment policy in Asia.

Exploring the coupling and coordination between science and technology finance and green development is a critical action that needs to be addressed in achieving high-quality development in China. Based on the coupling coordination degree model and panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model, this paper uses the relevant data of 274 cities in China from 2003 to 2020 to study the relationship between science and technology finance and green development. The results show that: 1) The relationship between science and technology finance and green development has changed from low coupling coordination to medium coupling coordination in the sample period. 2) The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta regions are at a relatively high level of coupling and coordination as a whole, while other regions are at a relatively low level of coupling and coordination. 3) Through the analysis of the spatial characteristics of the coupling coordination degree, it is found that the coupling coordination degree of China’s urban science and technology finance and green development is generally positive spatial autocorrelation. Spatial correlations continue to strengthen over time. 4) By establishing a PVAR model, we examined the interaction between science and technology finance, green development, and their coupling coordination. Science and technology finance, green development and their coupling coordination degree are themselves affected. We have comprehensively and objectively grasped the matching status of China’s urban science and technology finance and green development, providing a reference for promoting the adaptation of science and technology finance to green development.