Distorted land price and green innovation: empirical evidence from 273 cities in China

Green innovation is an important catalyst for achieving China’s sustainable transformation and “double carbon” goals. Taking distorted land price as the entry point, this article utilizes 273 cities and corporate-level data from 2005 to 2019 and employs a spatial econometric model system to investigate the influence of distorted land price on corporate green innovation and its underlying mechanisms. The findings suggest a significant negative impact of distorted land price on corporate green innovation, with substantial regional heterogeneity. Furthermore, distorted land price exhibits a spatial spillover effect, detrimentally influencing corporate green innovation. Mechanism tests indicate that distorted land price influences corporate green innovation through the supply–demand effect and price effect. Threshold effects tests show a non-linear influence of distorted land price on corporate green innovation in different policy contexts. A certain policy threshold can moderate the adverse effects of distorted land price on corporate green innovation. By dissecting the intrinsic mechanism between land price and corporate green innovation, this paper contributes valuable policy insights for China’s green economic transformation and the pursuit of “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality” in the context of global green development.