Environmental Courts and Green Development: Evidence from China
利用中国2007年以来环境法庭的逐步设立，采用多期双重差分法评估其对绿色全要素生产率的影响，发现环境法庭通过促进绿色创新、加强污染控制和提升公众环境关注度来推动绿色发展。
Environmental courts play an important role in upholding environmental justice and promoting green development. Drawing on the staggered establishment of environmental courts in China since 2007, we adopt a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) framework to assess their impact on green total factor productivity (GTFP). First, we find that cities with environmental courts tend to experience increases in GTFP after their establishment. Second, this effect is more pronounced in regions with stronger governmental environmental commitment, higher enforcement capacity, and non-resource-based urban structures. Third, the mechanism analysis suggests that cities with environmental courts tend to achieve higher GTFP by fostering green innovation, enhancing pollution control, and raising public environmental attention. By adopting an institutional perspective, this paper offers new empirical evidence on the role of environmental courts in advancing green development.