IMPROVING LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATIONS FOR REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH GREEN INVESTMENT IN UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

The relevance of this study stems from the need to coordinate green finance flows with regional industrial policy: when legal requirements, incentives, and monitoring mechanisms operate separately, investment cannot generate its full industrial effect. The aim is to assess how green investment contributes to regional industrial development in Uzbekistan and to identify ways to strengthen legalinstitutional coherence. The methodology combines Difference-in-Differences estimation, region and time fixed-effects modeling, Location Quotient analysis, panel-data regression, instrumental-variable testing of endogeneity, GMM estimation, and robustness checks. The estimates show a positive relationship between green investment and regional industrial development. The green-investment coefficient is β = 0.227, with a standard error of 0.052, a t-statistic of 4.37, and p < 0.001. The regional industrialdevelopment indicator records β = 0.184, a standard error of 0.041, a t-statistic of 4.49, and p < 0.001. Institutional coherence has β = 0.163, a standard error of 0.047, a t-statistic of 3.47, and p = 0.001; additional specifications produce p = 0.009 and p = 0.018. The study’s scientific contribution is a unified regional assessment framework connecting green investment, industrial dynamics, and institutional coherence. The findings support coordinated use of mandatory environmental criteria, territorial investment incentives, and regular monitoring. This arrangement links economic efficiency with durable regional industrial transformation and offers a practical basis for evaluating regional policy instruments. Future applications should compare incentive designs across regions while preserving consistent environmental and institutional benchmarks.