Can Mandatory Governance Mechanism Promote Corporate Green Innovation—Evidence From Internal Audit

Digitization, perception of policy uncertainty, and corporate green innovation: A study from China

This paper comprehensively employs literature research methods, normative analysis methods, and empirical analysis methods based on corporate governance theory and legitimacy theory. It employs theoretical deduction and hypothesis construction research approaches, treating heterogeneous institutional investors as independent variables, corporate green technology innovation as dependent variables, and environmental regulation as moderating variables. It selects data from Chinese A-share listed manufacturing enterprises from 2010 to 2022 as samples, and systematically analyzes the impact of heterogeneous institutional investors on corporate green technology innovation. The research results indicate that: focused institutional investors have a positive impact on corporate green technology innovation; temporary institutional investors have a negative impact on corporate green technology innovation; environmental regulations promote a positive relationship between focused institutional investors and corporate green technology innovation; environmental regulations suppress the negative relationship between temporary institutional investors and corporate green innovation. In summary, this article reveals that the role of heterogeneous institutional investors in corporate green technology innovation under the influence of environmental regulations exhibits dynamic, diverse, and complex characteristics. The research results can help us understand how and why different types of institutional investors affect green technology innovation in businesses. This can help companies make the best strategic decisions for green technology innovation, which will help them stay ahead of the competition and grow in the long term.

The impact of legitimacy pressure and corporate profitability on green innovation: Evidence from China top 100

Substantive innovation or strategic catering: Capital market pressure and corporate green innovation structure

Atmospheric environmental resources and corporate green innovation: Blessing or curse of the weather?

Purpose This study aims to examine whether a chairperson’s having sisters impacts corporate green innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach The study sample has 627 Chinese non-stated-owned enterprises. Using the OLS regression controlling for year and industry fixed effects, the empirical results support the research hypothesis. Findings Compared with chairpersons who have brothers only, firms whose chairpersons have sisters produce higher output on green innovation. That is, there is a “sister effect” in corporate green technology innovation. The more sisters, the higher output on corporate green innovation. Originality/value The authors contribute to the “culture and finance” research paradigm by examining the effect of the gender of chairpersons’ siblings on corporate green technology innovation performance.

Under the “dual carbon” strategy, innovation driving has become the core force for corporate green transformation, with human resources, a key element of green innovation, increasingly gaining attention. This study utilizes data from A-share listed companies to evaluate the impact of China’s urban talent introduction policies on corporate green innovation, focusing on the three dimensions of green product, process, and management innovation. The results reveal that urban talent introduction policies significantly promote corporate green innovation in three areas: green product innovation, green process innovation (end-of-pipe pollution control), and green management innovation. The influx of high-quality talent and optimization of the labor structure represent vital pathways for achieving this impact. Different talent types play different roles in different dimensions of green innovation. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that talent introduction policies have a stronger promoting effect on the green innovation performance of large enterprises, technology-intensive industries, and enterprises in relatively weak regional economies. For enterprises with public–private partnerships, talent admission policies have a more pronounced impact on their green product innovation and process innovation (end-of-pipe pollution control). Furthermore, the impact of talent policy on corporate green innovations in products and processes varies with the intensity of local government intervention. This study emphasizes the key role of talent introduction policies in promoting green innovation, providing theoretical foundations and policy references for implementing sustainable development strategies and environmental protection objectives.

This paper has exaimed the causal effect between media pressure and corporate green innovation through the micro-perspective of internal governance. We find that media pressure is supposed to effectively improve the enterprise green technology innovation, ownership concentration, independent directors and salary incentives have a significant positive U-shaped regulatory effect on the relationship between media pressure and enterprise green technology innovation. CEO duality and equity incentives are significantly moderating the relationship between media pressure and corporate green technology innovation. As for property heterogeneity, media pressure effectively improves the enterprises green innovation performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (Non-SOEs). Specifically, the moderating effect of internal governance elements is consistent with the baseline results in the Non-SOEs sample, while ownership concentration inverted U-shape regulates this process and other internal governance elements are consistent with the baseline results and in the SOEs sample.

Based on China's current emphasis on green development and the bottleneck of green innovation faced by enterprises in practice, this paper focuses on analyzing the role of executives' overseas experience in corporate green innovation. Utilizing data from A-share listed companies in China from 2008 to 2022, this study finds that CEOs with overseas experience significantly promote corporate green technology innovation. The study further reveals the intrinsic mechanisms by which CEOs with overseas experience promote firms' green technological innovation, including the positive impact of their internationalized vision, environmental protection concepts and long-term planning on firms' innovation decisions. Meanwhile, the study also takes into account the heterogeneity of firms, and finds that the overseas experience of CEOs in private firms has a more significant effect on green technological innovation than that of state-owned firms. Through empirical research, this paper clarifies the influence mechanism and boundary conditions of CEOs with overseas experience on corporate green technology innovation, which provides useful insights for corporate management practice and policy making.

Green innovation is essential for achieving sustainable economic development. By setting environmental targets, local governments encourage corporate green innovation, which is crucial for promoting high-quality economic growth. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2010 to 2022, we find that local governments’ environmental targets promote corporate green technology innovation. This effect is more pronounced in regions with lower economic targets and among firms that receive government R&D subsidies or lack political connections. A mechanism analysis reveals that environmental targets drive green innovation by increasing environmental investments. Our findings highlight the critical role of government in setting and implementing environmental targets, thus providing theoretical support for further corporate green technology innovation.

In the context of global climate change and resource scarcity, corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, as well as corporate green innovation, have emerged as pivotal drivers for fostering sustainable development. The heterogeneity of the top management team (TMT) significantly influences the direction and effectiveness of both ESG performance and corporate green innovation. Drawing on upper echelon theory, information decision-making theory, and social categorization theory, this paper conducts an empirical study using a sample of 314 manufacturing enterprises and employs multiple linear regression analysis to uncover the impact of TMT heterogeneity on corporate green innovation and the mediating role of ESG performance. The findings from this research suggest that TMT heterogeneity exerts a notable positive influence on green innovation (including green technological innovation and green product innovation), and that ESG performance plays a partial mediating role between TMT heterogeneity and green innovation. This research enriches the theoretical foundation of corporate green innovation from the perspective of TMT heterogeneity and offers pertinent suggestions for enterprises to advance their green innovation development.

With the advancement of the green economy, the influence of the environmental regulations on green technological innovation and the green economy is increasingly expanding. This paper investigates the impact of the environmental regulations and corporate green technological innovation on the green economy. We hope to explore how the environmental regulations affect the green economy through corporate green innovation. Thus, the research aims to enhance our understanding of the impact of the environmental regulations on the green economy. By incorporating the fixed-effects models, mediation models, spatial models, and regression analysis, this paper unveils the impact process of the environmental regulations on the green economy. The research findings are as follows: (1) The environmental regulations show the direct capacity to facilitate the elevation of the green economy. (2) Through the mediating variable of corporate green technological innovation, the environmental regulations could indirectly enhance the green economy. (3) Significant spatial correlations exist between the environmental regulations and corporate green technological innovation activities across the different regions in China. (4) Substantial disparities are evident in the relationships among the environmental regulations, green technological innovation, and the green economy across the various regions in China. The findings presented in this paper serve to broaden the scope of research on the relationship between the environmental regulations and the green economy. Moreover, it offers essential insights for the relevant government authorities and businesses in formulating management policies.

Can the new energy demonstration city policy promote corporate green innovation capability?

Environmental degradation and economic development have long been seen as incompatible, posing a pressing challenge for society. Government–business collaboration stands as an effective avenue for addressing environmental issues. This paper, using the 2007–2021 Low-Carbon City Pilot (LCCP) program in China as a quasi-natural experiment, explores the impact of governmental environmental regulations on corporate green innovation and examines the moderating role of government–business collusion. The findings indicate that the LCCP policy has effectively promoted corporate green technological innovation, with results remaining robust across various sensitivity tests. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the policy’s impact is more pronounced in the eastern regions, state-owned enterprises, and low-tech industries. Moreover, government–business collusion significantly undermines the benefits of green innovation, though this effect is partially alleviated when local government officials are replaced. Under the influence of government environmental regulation, green innovation fosters the sustainable development of enterprises. However, the formation of collusion between government and business diminishes the incentive for companies to take on environmental and social responsibilities. The study enriches the existing literature on environmental policy factors and offers both theoretical and practical insights for the government in formulating relevant environmental policies and promoting corporate green innovation.

Green innovation is crucial to the sustainable development of corporates. The executive’s environmental protection background has an impact on their comprehensive skills, value orientation, management style, and behavioral patterns, thus playing an important role in corporate green innovation strategy. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between executives’ environmental protection background and corporate green innovation and its boundary mechanisms. Using data of A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2021, this relationship was empirically investigated using Stata analysis software and the establishment of a fixed-effects analysis model. Based on the upper echelons theory, this study finds that executive environmental protection background positively affects corporates’ green innovation. The above positive relationship persists when measures of green innovation and alternative regression models address robustness. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating role of the external environment and internal organizational factors (i.e., media attention and board independence). This study concludes that media attention and board independence positively moderate the positive relationship between executives’ environmental protection background and green innovation. The study contributes to the upper echelons theory and provides new insights into green innovation in emerging economies.