Financing preferences and practices for developing sustainable exhibitions in Chinese companies

Abstract

Abstract This study endeavors to investigate the influence of environmentally conscious financial inclinations on the sustainable investment practices of 137 Chinese companies operating within the exhibition industry from 2015 to 2021. Employing the CS-ARDL (cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag) method, the findings indicate that a 1% upswing in the green financing preference index leads to short-term and long-term increases of 0.55% and 0.63%, respectively, in the green investments of Chinese exhibition industry companies. The workforce size has a positive impact on green investments, while a 1% increase in profitability correlates with enhanced green investments among Chinese companies. Furthermore, total income emerges as a factor that encourages green investments within China’s exhibition industry. Notably, the preference for financing through green bonds exerts a more substantial influence on green investments than other preferences of exhibition industry companies. The paper also proposes crucial practical policies, including the adoption of modern digital technologies like big data, the creation of green job opportunities, and the promotion of green initiatives among small and medium-sized enterprises in the exhibition industry through the implementation of environmentally efficient fiscal policies.