How does China's green credit policy affect the green innovation of high polluting enterprises? The perspective of radical and incremental innovations

In this paper, we explore the effects of China's green credit policy on highly polluting enterprises' green radical and incremental innovations. Utilizing the data of China's listed firms from 2007 to 2019, the empirical results show that green credit policy improves the overall and incremental green innovations but impedes the radical green innovation of highly polluting enterprises. Local governments' interventions, including direct intervention and environmental investment, not only mitigate the negative impact of the policy on radical innovation but also facilitate the positive effects. Our findings provide suggestions for the implementation of China's green credit policy.