Abstract: A well-functioning environmental judiciary system plays a critical role in fostering green innovation and facilitating green transformation. Against the backdrop of China’s deepening environmental judicial reform, this study exploits the establishment of environmental courts as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically examine their impact on corporate green innovation, employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The results reveal that environmental courts significantly enhance firms' green innovation, with a more pronounced effect on substantive green innovation. Unlike passive defensive responses driven by firm vulnerability, this effect is primarily driven by proactive self-regulation mechanisms. Further analysis shows that the effect is more salient in state-owned enterprises and firms with long-term managerial orientation, and that it diffuses through executive interlocks, producing a “chain effect.” This study contributes to the literature by introducing a judicial perspective to the determinants of green innovation and offers micro-level evidence on how environmental courts can incentivize sustainable corporate behavior. The findings also provide policy implications for enhancing environmental governance and promoting green development at the local level.

摘要： 完善的环境司法体系建设对促进绿色创新与实现绿色转型具有重要意义。在深化环境司法改革背景下，本文利用中国设立环保法庭这一准自然实验，使用多时点双重差分方法实证检验了环保法庭设立对企业绿色创新的影响，并揭示其深层影响机制。结果表明：环保法庭显著促进了企业绿色创新，且对实质性绿色创新的促进效应更强；不同于基于企业自身脆弱性的被动防御，企业的自我调节机制是上述发现的重要影响机制。进一步分析发现，该效应在国有企业及管理层具有长期导向的企业中更明显，并会通过高管兼任机制产生“连锁效应”。本文不仅从环境司法角度拓展了绿色创新驱动因素研究，为环保法庭对绿色创新的促进效应提供微观层面经验证据；而且为地方完善环境司法体系及提升绿色发展水平提供政策启示。