The Influence Mechanism of Corporate Environmental Responsibility on Corporate Performance: The Mediation Effect of Green Innovation

Abstract

Facing the current increasingly severe environmental problems, the government and the public make increasingly strong demands for environmental protection. It is the key to sustainable development to study how to motivate enterprises to actively fulfill their environmental responsibilities and practice green production mode. This study selects large steel enterprises of the China Iron and Steel Association from 2009 to 2017 as samples to empirically analyze the effect and mechanism of environmental responsibility on corporate performance. The results show that corporate environmental responsibility (CER) has a significant promoting effect on corporate performance, and green innovation has a significant mediating effect between them. Furthermore, from the perspective of regional and ownership heterogeneity, the differences in the mediating effect of green innovation on the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and corporate performance are explored. Finally, based on the research results, this paper suggests that enterprise managers should balance the relationship between enterprise performance and environmental protection, so as to achieve a “win–win” situation.