Does Green Entrepreneurial Orientation Improve the Green Competitive Advantage

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a double-edged sword because entrepreneurial activities can be both the “perpetrators” and “solvers” of environmental problems. Green entrepreneurship is regarded as an engine to promote a more sustainable society, but whether it can truly improve financial performance has always been controversial. Green entrepreneurial orientation（GEO）is the prerequisite for green entrepreneurship, reflecting the proactive strategic tendency of the firm level, and green competitive advantage（GCA）is the key to achieve financial performance goals. However, the mechanism and boundary conditions between GEO and GCA are not yet clear.From the perspectives of resource-based view and contingency theory, this paper explores the impact of GEO on GCA through green innovation. The study was conducted in the form of a questionnaire and the survey was divided into two phases for data collection to reduce potential common method biases and endogeneity. A total of 203 valid samples were collected in the two stages, and empirical tests were carried out using SPSS and AMOS. The results show that:（1）GEO has a positive impact on GCA.（2）Green process innovation and green product innovation are the key paths to transform GEO into GCA, and there is no significant difference in the effect between them.（3）GEO promotes green product innovation due to improved green process innovation levels, thereby improving GCA.（4）Green technological turbulence weakens the impact of green innovation on GCA.The implications are that: First, GEO contributes to the formation of GCA, which is one of the key factors affecting the performance difference, and enterprises can use it as a new competitive reference. Second, in the process of implementing GEO, green process innovation and green product innovation are equivalent to the tactics or means, and green process innovation can help green product development or upgrading. Third, green technological turbulence is likely to inhibit the establishment of GCA, so enterprises should review and feedback it regularly.The contributions are that: First, focusing on GCA, this paper provides a new perspective for explaining the differences in financial performance of green entrepreneurial enterprises. Second, with the overall logic of “orientation – behavior – result”, this paper further explores the impact of GEO on GCA through green innovation, clarifies its path mechanism, and makes up for the deficiency of existing literature in explaining the inherent mechanism. Third, the boundary effect provides a theoretical and practical basis for enterprises to scientifically choose green innovation behaviors in the environment of technological fluctuations. The results extend the theory of green entrepreneurship and provide a theoretical basis and practical inspiration for enterprises to build a specific green competitive advantage.