Impact of Green Finance and Environmental Regulations on the Green Innovation Efficiency in China

Innovation is the first driving force for development, and green innovation efficiency (GIE) plays a very important role in regional sustainable development. Data from 31 provinces and cities in China from 2011 to 2020 were used to select the proportion of energy saving and environmental protection costs in GDP as the green financial value, and the proportion of industrial pollution control input in GDP as the environmental regulation index. Green innovation efficiency is measured from two aspects of input and output by DEA method, and carried out for 31 provinces and cities in three regions. Using the DEA-Malmquist index to measure regional green innovation efficiency, the results show that the green innovation efficiency in three regions basically presents an upward trend, but the upward trend of green innovation efficiency is different between the three regions. A Tobit regression model is constructed to explore the impact of green finance and environmental regulations on the green innovation efficiency in these three regions. Research indicates that environmental regulations, the proportion of output value of tertiary industry in GDP, industrial structure, and foreign direct investment have significant impacts on the green innovation efficiency in all regions. Green finance, industrial structure, and power consumption have a significant impact on the green innovation efficiency in eastern China. Industrial structure has a significant impact on green innovation efficiency in central China, while power consumption and industrial structure have a significant impact on green innovation efficiency in western China. Therefore, each region needs to improve the standard of environmental regulation innovation, and introduce and use foreign investment in a scientific and reasonable way so as to promote the improvement of industrial infrastructure.