Does the Yangtze River Protection Strategy help heavily polluting corporates deleverage? Evidence from corporates in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

This paper investigates the effect of the Yangtze river protection strategy (YRPS) on the leverage of heavily polluting corporates in the Yangtze river economic belt (YREB) through a quasi-natural experiment. The findings are as follows: Firstly, the YRPS helps to deleverage heavily polluting corporates, and this deleveraging effect will increase over time. Secondly, when the corporates belong to the middle and lower reaches of the YREB and the financial supervision degree of the areas are higher, the YRPS will have a stronger inhibitory impression on the leverage of heavily polluting corporates. Thirdly, when the corporates are state-owned, technology-intensive, and capital-intensive, the YRPS will have a better deleveraging effect on heavily polluting corporates. Fourthly, the YRPS mainly works on the leverage of heavily polluting corporates by reducing the financing capacity of corporates, reducing the capital investment of corporates, and weakening the operating risks of corporates. The findings of this paper supply important policy insights for advancing the implementation of YRPS, pushing the green transformation and upgrading of heavily polluting corporates, and promoting the high-quality economic development of the YREB.