Social implications of green finance policies for renewable-energy project financing: evidence from publicly listed enterprises

Abstract Drawing on the interdisciplinary lens of humanities and social sciences communications, this study investigates how China’s green-finance policy regime reshapes the funding landscape for renewable-energy projects undertaken by A-share listed companies. Employing a difference-in-differences design on firm-level panel data (2012–2024), we estimate policy impacts across project-scale strata. Results show that green-finance policies significantly increase capital flows to renewable-energy projects at all scales, with the strongest effects observed for large-scale installations. Mechanism tests reveal three social-financial channels: (1) risk-perception reduction, (2) alleviation of financing constraints, (3) optimisation of capital structure that enables project-scale expansion. By linking financial regulation to corporate investment behaviour and societal energy transitions, the findings advance Humanities & Social Sciences Communications’ mission to illuminate the policy–finance–society nexus and to inform evidence-based pathways toward sustainable development.