The Impact of the Social Credit System on Green Innovation in Private Enterprises: The Role of Credit Discrimination and Public Environmental Awareness

This paper examines the impact of the social credit system on green innovation in private enterprises by leveraging a quasi-natural experiment based on China's Social Credit System Construction and employing a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model. Results show that the social credit system significantly promotes green innovation. This effect is more pronounced in highly polluting industries, firms with greater media exposure, and regions with weaker financial markets. Mechanism analysis reveals that the system alleviates credit discrimination, enhances public environmental awareness, ultimately fostering green innovation. Further analysis indicates that the social credit system also improves firm performance, generating positive economic outcomes.