LITERATURE REVIEW ON INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY, GREEN INNOVATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA'S GREEN ECONOMY

Abstract

Against the backdrop of growing tensions among economic development, energy use, and environmental pollution, the green economy has become a core strategic path for China to achieve high-quality development and meet the "dual carbon" goals, with institutional quality and green innovation as key drivers. This paper reviews empirical studies on the links between the green economy, institutional quality, and green innovation, clarifying that green economic growth centers on the coordinated development of "economy-ecology-society" and uses green total factor productivity (GTFP) as a key evaluation indicator. It summarizes how green innovation boosts green economic growth at regional, enterprise & industrial, and international levels, along with the mediating paths, and analyzes the moderating effects of institutional quality on the relationship between the green economy and green innovation. The study notes shortcomings in existing literature, such as theoretical framework integration, institutional quality research dimensions, green technology transformation studies, regional heterogeneity analysis, and international comparisons. Thus, it proposes that future research should build a comprehensive theoretical framework for the three, deepen multi-dimensional institutional synergy research, enhance green technology transformation analysis, refine regional heterogeneity exploration, and expand international comparative studies to provide solid theoretical and practical support for China's green economy development.