The impact of sustainable development policy for resource-based cities on green technology innovation: Firm-level evidence from China

The sustainable development policy targeting resource-based cities (RBC) is a critical measure initiated by China's government to transform these cities. Green technology innovation (GTI) has surfaced as a pivotal route in achieving sustainable development in RBCs. However, whether implementing this policy can induce GTI remains underexplored. To fill this gap, exploiting the National Plan for Sustainable Development of Resource-based Cities (2013-2020) (NPSDRC) as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ the difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the influence of NPSDRC on corporate GTI and potential mechanisms. We observe that NPSDRC significantly reduces the GTI of RBC enterprises. Mechanism analysis reveals that NPSDRC escalates environmental governance costs and decreases R&D investment, impeding corporate GTI. Meanwhile, our findings suggest that providing more bank loans and tax incentives could weaken this adverse effect on corporate GTI. Heterogeneity results indicate that non-SOEs, enterprises with weak financing capabilities, enterprises with long-sighted vision, and high energy consumption enterprises are more susceptible to the influence of NPSDRC. This study offers empirical evidence for countries seeking to employ policies to drive the transformation of RBCs.