Associate Professor Xiaohang Ren, a researcher at the institute, co-authored the paper 'Can green finance act as a catalyst to renewable energy deployment? Evidence from China using a spatial econometric approach,' which was published in the important academic journal Energy.

Abstract: There is international consensus on leveraging green finance in renewable energy deployment because both are viewed as crucial for achieving carbon neutrality. We employ a spatial econometric approach to examine whether green finance can stimulate renewable energy uptake using energy data from 30 provinces in China for the period 2006–2020. We also investigate the moderating influence of government interventions in the form of environmental regulations and natural gas promotion. To assess the overall impact of China's inaugural green bond policy, introduced in 2015, we conduct a quasi-natural experiment combining the spatial Durbin model and difference-in-difference (DID) method. The empirical results reveal the following: Firstly, green finance can enhance renewable energy utilization, with spillover effects observed from green finance in one province to neighboring provinces. Secondly, environmental regulations and natural gas promotion have beneficial moderating effects, supporting green finance in advancing renewable energy deployment. Thirdly, a high level of implementation of green bond policy generates local and external boosts for renewable energy. These findings can inform government and environmental organizations in designing and implementing policies to expand renewable energy deployment.

Keywords: FDICO2 emissions；Non-parametric；LLDVE

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.133302

Teacher profile

Xiaohang Ren is a Distinguished Associate Professor at the Business School, Central South University, an Elsevier China Highly Cited Researcher, and a Top 2% Scientist Worldwide. He mainly engages in research on energy finance, financial risk, and financial econometrics. He has published more than 100 papers in authoritative journals at home and abroad,including Journal of the American Statistical Association,Transportation Research Part A, Energy Economics, Quantitative Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, International Review of Financial Analysis, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Business Strategy and the Environment, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Applied Energy, Resources Policy, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy, Journal of Management Sciences in China (English Edition), Systems Engineering — Theory and Practice, and Chinese Journal of Management Science. Among these, more than 30 are ESI Hot Papers/Highly Cited Papers. He serves as Section Editor of Sustainable Communities (Taylor & Francis), Associate Editor of journals such as Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (the only humanities and social sciences journal under Nature), and Guest Editor of several SSCI journals including Climate Change Economics and Economic Change and Restructuring