Can Green Finance Mitigate China’s Carbon Emissions and Air Pollution? An Analysis of Spatial Spillover and Mediation Pathways

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors examined and constructed indicators using the TOPSIS model to explore the green finance development pathways regarding carbon emissions and air pollution in 30 provinces of China from 2007 to 2019.

The Introduction section is well conducted and covers the relevant motivations in this thematic field of green finance. My suggestion would be to present China's dual carbon policy here. The main goal of the piece must be addressed at the end of this section (using verbs in the infinitive, not using "constructs," for example).

The methodology is well-addressed and updated relative to the theme of green finance and its impacts on carbon emissions and air pollution. In the Methodology section, I suggest a subsection to describe the area of the empirical study. I strongly recommend presenting and characterizing the provinces' selectes. How were they selected? What is the spatial contiguity of these provinces? How are these provinces represented in terms of carbon emissions and air pollution? Which are the primary industry sectors?

Figure 4 must be better presented. The letters are difficult to read.

I believe the analysis of the regional distribution of green finance must be better presented.

At the end of the piece, there is little discussion regarding the impacts of green finance on the overall results of China's economic development. Also, there is no discussion regarding such policies' social and environmental impacts.

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. At present, there is more research literature on green finance and carbon emissions, and more in-depth research. However, from the authors’ research, it does not cut in from a new perspective, and is not innovative enough.

2. The literature review section is mainly from the perspective of the impact of green finance on carbon emission intensity and air pollution, which is relatively simple and lacks an overview and summary of the literature related to the research object from other perspectives.

3. The authors do not seem to have given sufficient justification for the selection of the relevant variables.

4. There is insufficient explanation of why this is the case for the relevant econometric modelling results.

5. Figures in the chapter are not clear enough, suggest the author to upload a clearer version.

6. The description of Line78-88 is rather vague, and it is suggested that it be written in the context of the latest policy and related documents.

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The scientific work presented is of excellent quality due to its conceptual, theoretical and empirical foundation. We verified the use of the two-way fixed-effects spatial Durbin model and the spatial mediation effect model, where the latter model allowed the understanding of the differences and pathways in the Eastern, Central, and Western regions of China. This work helps managers and leaders understand the effects and impacts of green financing in different areas of China.

Author Response

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Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper presents an analysis of theory and empirical research on the impact and paths of green finance as a policy tool to promote environmental sustainability on carbon emissions and environmental pollution using panel data from 30 provinces in China. The content of the paper fits within the scope of the Journal. It is a new and original contribution. The paper is well-written and yields interesting results and implications. The paper could be accepted for publication after minor modifications.

1. novelty of the research and value-added of this paper should be presented and explained in detail in the INTRODUCTION section.
2. Comparisons with other studies have to be provided in the discussion section. Please interpret and describe the significance of your findings in light of what was already known about the research problem being investigated and explain any new understanding or fresh insights about the problem after considering the findings. Please provide a comparison with other studies.
3. Please provide research LIMITATIONS and identify potential weaknesses. Comment on their relative importance concerning your overall interpretation of the results and, if necessary, note how they may affect the validity of the findings.
4. Please provide the possible directions for future studies from a broader perspective of the paper.

Author Response

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Reviewer 5 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The study is focused on assessing the extent to which green finance can represent an intervention tool for ensuring environmental sustainability. Using adapted statistical techniques (e.g.: techniques for assessing the level of development of green finance; techniques for assessing the spatial spillover effect; multiple models of space mediation, etc.), the authors show that green finance can significantly reduce carbon intensity and air pollution. The study is interesting, well documented, with the potential to contribute to the advancement of knowledge.

The abstract presents the research problem and highlights the purpose of the study. It briefly describes the main methods applied and summarizes the main findings of the study.

The introduction places the study in a broad context, present the purpose of the study, and highlight why it is important. The authors formulate research questions and present the purpose of the study.

The literature review covers aspects developed in empirical research. The sources cited are current and relevant.

The research methodology is clearly presented. The variables analyzed and the statistical tools used are explained. Appropriate discussions are initiated on the results obtained.

The conclusions are pertinent and correspond to the results obtained. In this section, the practical implications of the research are also pointed out.

 Recommendations:

1. In the introduction, for the ideas of the rows 30-31, the bibliographic sources should be specified.

2. The authors should reevaluate whether "Opinions on the Implementation of Environmental Policies and Regulations (2007) and Guidelines for Establishing the Green Financial System (2016)" are correctly classified under the "policies and regulations" category. The two documents seem to be more "opinions/guidelines" and not binding policies/regulations.

3. The authors must provide a brief detail on PM2.5 (where it first appears - row 173).

4. Authors should evaluate the usefulness of the details on rows 180-182. I deduced that these details were the basis for organizing the content (and their deletion was omitted).

5. The authors need to explain why they did not include the four regions in the sample: Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Tibet

6. The authors must review the note in Table 2 (rows 385-386).

7. The conclusions section should begin with a synthesis of the results of the literature review on the topic under investigation.

8. The authors must indicate the limits of their own research, as well as future research directions.

Author Response

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Reviewer 6 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for the opportunity to read this very well-documented "book chapter".

Please extract the essence of the article and reduce the size to at least 10 pages. The information presented is very old. It might be interesting in comparison with the present. Thus does not bring any value added. 

It's important to study the evolution until the present to be able to establish strategies and propose solutions.

Maybe you can write 2-3 articles on this idea as to be able to explain each model. Then the fort can be their resume, with strategies and solutions.

 

Author Response

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Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

My comments were adequately accommodated.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The author has made corresponding revisions to my question, and it has basically reached the level of publication.

Reviewer 6 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors improved the article in a high measure, although there is a lot to do...