Coupling coordination between financial support efficiency and carbon efficiency for resource recycling industry in China

The resource recycling industry (RRI) is a new carrier for the high-quality development of the economy. As an industry that needs to balance economic and environmental benefits, it is particularly important to harmonize the development of its financial support efficiency (FSE) and carbon efficiency (CE). Studying the coupling coordination degree between FSE and CE (CCD-FC) in this industry can provide scientific advice for sustainable development. This paper reveals the evolution of FSE and CE in different regions using 86 listed firms in China's RRI from 2016 to 2021. Then, the spatiotemporal characteristics of CCD-FC are analyzed and the influencing factors are explored. The results show that: (1) The average FSE was worst in the West (0.674) and best in the East (0.748). In terms of the average CE, the best performance was in the Central (4.035), and the worst was in the West (1.668). (2) The national average CCD-FC increased from 0.457 to 0.544, with the lowest degree in the Northeast (0.436), and the highest in the East (0.514). (3) The inter-regional differences were the main source of the overall regional CCD-FC differences. Differences between the Northeast and the East expanded most significantly. (4) The level of green financial development was the dominant driver of CCD-FC, and the driving ability of environmental monitoring intensity was also high. The interaction between economic foundation and green financial development was most influential in 2016 and 2019, and the interaction between green financial development and research level was most influential in 2021. Finally, targeted suggestions based on these results are proposed to narrow the differences in CCD-FC, such as enhancing the function of the green financial market in the West and Northeast, etc.