Green finance without green returns? Carbon compliance, production scale and European steel export competitiveness
Abstract
Purpose – This study examines whether country-level green finance, measured by green bond issuances, translates into measurable improvements in the export performance of the European steel sector, one of the most carbon-intensive and trade-exposed industries under the EU's evolving climate regulatory architecture. Design/data/methodology – The analysis covers 17 European economies over 2015–2024 (N = 170, balanced panel). Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) is employed to capture distributional heterogeneity across the full range of export performance, from the weakest to the most competitive exporters. Findings – Green bond issuances exert no statistically significant effect on steel exports at any quantile, interpreted through a structural temporal mismatch hypothesis. Production capacity is the dominant export driver, with a monotonically declining elasticity from 2.33 at Q10 to 0.75 at Q90. Carbon intensity consistently depresses exports, with a sharply amplified effect at Q90. Mean-based OLS estimators reverse the sign of the production-export relationship, confirming that quantile regression is a methodological necessity in structurally heterogeneous panels. Originality/value – This study provides original quantile panel evidence on the green finance, export competitiveness nexus for a major energy intensive sector, addressing a gap at the intersection of sustainable finance, trade economics, and industrial policy. The theorization of the temporal mismatch mechanism, the documented OLS sign reversal, and the differentiated quantile-based policy recommendations constitute contributions to both the green finance literature and the economics of EU carbon market architecture
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Environment and Climate Finance
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Souria Hammache
*
0000-0002-5081-4198
Algeria
Publication Date
June 30, 2026
Submission Date
March 18, 2026
Acceptance Date
May 20, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 4 Number: 1