The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities

The integration of financial services with technological advancements gives rise to digital finance, is instrumental in enhancing resource allocation efficiency, facilitating carbon reduction efforts, and advancing sustainable development initiatives. This study is based on panel data from 244 prefe...

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Main Authors: Wenwen Hao, Shujun Ye, Yujin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Sustainable Futures
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825005258
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author Wenwen Hao
Shujun Ye
Yujin Zhang
author_facet Wenwen Hao
Shujun Ye
Yujin Zhang
author_sort Wenwen Hao
collection DOAJ
description The integration of financial services with technological advancements gives rise to digital finance, is instrumental in enhancing resource allocation efficiency, facilitating carbon reduction efforts, and advancing sustainable development initiatives. This study is based on panel data from 244 prefecture-level cities in China covering the period from 2011 to 2020. It employs empirical analysis to examine both the direct impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity and the underlying mechanisms. The results show that digital finance significantly enhances regional carbon emission reduction capacity, and this finding remains robust across a series of sensitivity tests. Furthermore, the promoting effect of digital finance exhibits a threshold effect: as digital finance matures, its marginal contribution to carbon emission reduction capacity gradually diminishes. Mechanism analysis reveals that digital finance facilitates carbon emission reduction by alleviating capital and labor misallocation at the regional level. Therefore, differentiated and dynamic digital finance development strategies should be implemented to promote digital finance services and technological innovation, accurately identify and match capital needs, develop intelligent labor matching platforms, improve labor mobility and matching efficiency, thereby driving sustainable development.
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spelling doaj-art-1eb3fc7fc9b942158a4dfad1dbb487a52025-08-20T03:13:59ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882025-12-011010096110.1016/j.sftr.2025.100961The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese citiesWenwen Hao0Shujun Ye1Yujin Zhang2Beijing Jiaotong University, No.3 Shangyuan Village, Xizhimen Wai, Haidian District, Beijing, China; Corresponding author.Beijing Jiaotong University, No.3 Shangyuan Village, Xizhimen Wai, Haidian District, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Humanities and Management, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 050200, ChinaThe integration of financial services with technological advancements gives rise to digital finance, is instrumental in enhancing resource allocation efficiency, facilitating carbon reduction efforts, and advancing sustainable development initiatives. This study is based on panel data from 244 prefecture-level cities in China covering the period from 2011 to 2020. It employs empirical analysis to examine both the direct impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity and the underlying mechanisms. The results show that digital finance significantly enhances regional carbon emission reduction capacity, and this finding remains robust across a series of sensitivity tests. Furthermore, the promoting effect of digital finance exhibits a threshold effect: as digital finance matures, its marginal contribution to carbon emission reduction capacity gradually diminishes. Mechanism analysis reveals that digital finance facilitates carbon emission reduction by alleviating capital and labor misallocation at the regional level. Therefore, differentiated and dynamic digital finance development strategies should be implemented to promote digital finance services and technological innovation, accurately identify and match capital needs, develop intelligent labor matching platforms, improve labor mobility and matching efficiency, thereby driving sustainable development.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825005258Digital financeCapital misallocationLabor misallocationCarbon emission reduction capability
spellingShingle Wenwen Hao
Shujun Ye
Yujin Zhang
The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities
Sustainable Futures
Digital finance
Capital misallocation
Labor misallocation
Carbon emission reduction capability
title The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities
title_full The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities
title_fullStr The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities
title_full_unstemmed The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities
title_short The impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation: Evidence from Chinese cities
title_sort impact of digital finance on regional carbon emission reduction capacity from the perspective of resource misallocation evidence from chinese cities
topic Digital finance
Capital misallocation
Labor misallocation
Carbon emission reduction capability
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825005258
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