IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bba/j00001/v2y2023i3p21-42d43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovation with ecological sustainability: Does corporate environmental responsibility matter in green innovation?

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaoli Hao

    (School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China)

  • Wenqian Fu

    (China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China)

  • Khaldoon Albitar

    (Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Green innovation, driven by China's new development concept, plays a crucial role in high-quality economic development. In line with the green development trend, businesses increasingly prioritize whether their corporate environmental responsibilities (CER) can effectively enhance corporate green innovation (CGI) levels. This paper examines the influence and mechanism of CER on CGI using a dynamic perspective, drawing from 1,640 manually-collected panel data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies between 2010 and 2017. The primary findings indicate that the impact of CER on CGI possesses phase-specific characteristics and a dual effect of "crowding in" and "crowding out." The current phase of CER negatively affects green innovation, while the lag phase has a positive effect. CER's impact on various CGI types is heterogeneous: specifically, it follows an "inverted-N" trajectory (inhibition-promotion-inhibition) for "strategic green innovation" and has a promotional effect on "substantive green innovation," which is stronger and has a longer time lag. The mechanism analysis reveals that financing constraints play a critical mediating role. A heterogeneity analysis based on multiple dimensions (ownership, industry, and location) suggests that CER has a more significant driving force for CGI among state-owned firms, high-polluting industries, and enterprises in inland areas. Finally, the paper presents corresponding suggestions for government and corporate entities.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoli Hao & Wenqian Fu & Khaldoon Albitar, 2023. "Innovation with ecological sustainability: Does corporate environmental responsibility matter in green innovation?," Journal of Economic Analysis, Anser Press, vol. 2(3), pages 21-42, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bba:j00001:v:2:y:2023:i:3:p:21-42:d:43
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.anserpress.org/journal/jea/2/3/31/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.anserpress.org/journal/jea/2/3/31
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wenjun Zhou & Xiaorong Huang & Hao Dai & Yuanmeng Xi & Zhansheng Wang & Long Chen, 2022. "Research on the Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Enterprises’ Green Innovation—Based on the Perspective of Corporate Investment and Financing Decisions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, February.
    2. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    3. Chen, Jin & Su, Yu-Shan & de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & von Hippel, Eric, 2020. "Household sector innovation in China: Impacts of income and motivation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(4).
    4. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiang, Xiandeng & Cheng, Manli & Wu, Tong, 2023. "Resources extraction, industrial sector, and economic growth: Middle East and North African economies overview," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    2. Chengyonghui, Duan & Ni, Soh Wei & San, Ong Tze & Rahim, Norhuda BT Abdul, 2023. "What role public debt plays to moderate the influence of natural resources on financial development? Appraising Resource-Curse Hypothesis in MENA Region," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    3. Liu, Jiayu & Lu, Shichang, 2023. "Do natural resources ensure access to sustainable renewable energy in developing economies? The role of mineral resources in a resources-energy novel setting," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    4. Chi, Mingyuan & Ping, Wang, 2024. "Resources abundant economies and sustainability of economic growth: A novel panel evidence of high resources economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Shi, Rubiao & Gao, Pengfei & Su, Xufeng & Zhang, Xi & Yang, Xiaodong, 2024. "Synergizing natural resources and sustainable development: A study of industrial structure, and green innovation in Chinese region," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Zhang, Yang & Huang, Yichen & Wang, Xiao, 2023. "Impact of economic policy uncertainty, oil prices, and technological innovations on natural resources footprint in BRICS economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    7. Han, Zhanbing & Heng, Yixin, 2024. "Do fintech and trade diversification discard the natural resource dependency in MENA countries?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Rong, Liu & Wang, Zhenbo & Li, Zhijun, 2024. "Unraveling the role of Financial Risk, social globalization and Economic Risk towards attaining sustainable environment in China: Does resources curse still holds," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Yang, Ping & Lv, Yanqin & Chen, Xiaodan & Lv, Juan, 2024. "Digital finance, natural resource constraints and firms' low-carbon behavior: Evidence from listed companies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Li, Hongmei & Xu, Ruizhe, 2023. "Impact of fiscal policies and natural resources on ecological sustainability of BRICS region: Moderating role of green innovation and ecological governance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    11. Zhang, Zhihe & Hou, Yufei & Zhang, Zesen & Li, Mulin, 2023. "Natural resources, carbon neutrality, and fiscal federalism: Implications for G7 countries amid rising Covid-19 concerns," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    12. Wu, Haitao & Wang, Bingjie & Lu, Mingyue & Irfan, Muhammad & Miao, Xin & Luo, Shiyue & Hao, Yu, 2023. "The strategy to achieve zero‑carbon in agricultural sector: Does digitalization matter under the background of COP26 targets?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    13. Li, Beili & Fan, Xu & Li, Jianjiang, 2024. "Natural resource dependence and government-guided social forces participation in R&D investment: An analysis of the resource curse hypothesis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Wang, Jingyi, 2024. "Green finance and the relationship with goodwill: A study based on the perspectives of accounting information quality and financing constraints," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 833-846.
    15. Yu, Ti-Ming & Yan, Yu-Tong & Yin, Ya-Hua & Yang, Ming-Gao, 2023. "Are natural resources and oil prices a possible solution to renewable energy electricity? Evidence from global time series data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    16. Pan, Junyu & Du, Lizhao & Wu, Haitao & Liu, Xiaoqian, 2024. "Does environmental law enforcement supervision improve corporate carbon reduction performance? Evidence from environmental protection interview," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    17. Liu, Dongwang & Yang, Ziqi, 2024. "Asymmetric linkages among fintech, oil prices, governance, and growth in Southeast Asian economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Kharb, Ravita & Suneja, Vivek & Aggarwal, Shalini & Singh, Pragati & Shahzad, Umer & Saini, Neha & Kumar, Dinesh, 2024. "The relationship between investment determinants and environmental sustainability: Evidence through meta-analysis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 267-280.
    19. Wang, Junqi & Zain ul Abidin, Rana & Afshan, Sahar & Miao, Chenglin & Ullah, Ehsan & Cai, Xuesen, 2023. "Do economic growth and globalization are drivers of sustainable resources management? New insights from BRICS countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    20. Meng, Lingyan & Li, Jinshi, 2024. "Natural resources volatility and geopolitical risk: A novel perspective of oil and mineral rents using quantile-quantile regression for China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    21. Shi, Yang & Li, Jinlong & Fang, Zhen & Li, Ye & Hu, Han & Nie, Wei & Meng, Fuyu, 2024. "Probing the role of natural resources and urbanization towards ecological sustainability in BRICST economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    22. Yang, Xiaodong & Liu, Xia & Ran, Qiying & Razzaq, Asif, 2023. "How does natural resource dependence influence industrial green transformation in China? Appraising underlying mechanisms for sustainable development at regional level," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tan, Yafei & Zhu, Zhaohui, 2022. "The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers' environmental awareness," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Sensoy, Ahmet & Liao, Jing & Xie, Xiaochen, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and green innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    3. Tang, Chang & Xu, Yuanyuan & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao & Xue, Yan, 2021. "What is the role of telecommunications infrastructure construction in green technology innovation? A firm-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Shao, Yanmin & Xu, Kunliang & Shan, Yuan George, 2024. "Leveraging corporate digitalization for green technology innovation: The mediating role of resource endowments," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Ma, Yanbai & Lu, Ling & Cui, Jingbo & Shi, Xunpeng, 2024. "Can green credit policy stimulate firms’ green investments?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 123-137.
    6. Mo Chen & Xuhua Hu & Jijian Zhang & Zhe Xu & Guang Yang & Zenan Sun, 2023. "Are Firms More Willing to Seek Green Technology Innovation in the Context of Economic Policy Uncertainty? —Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    7. Yanru Li & Guanglin Sun & Qiang Gao & Changming Cheng, 2023. "Digital Financial Inclusion, Financial Efficiency and Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-13, January.
    8. Hu, Guoqiang & Wang, Xiaoqi & Wang, Yu, 2021. "Can the green credit policy stimulate green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Dong, Hanmin & Zhang, Lin & Zheng, Huanhuan, 2024. "Green bonds: Fueling green innovation or just a fad?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    10. Li, Yan & Wang, Junkai & Mu, Zi & Li, Lingxiao, 2023. "The impact of corporate environmental responsibility on green technological innovation: A nonlinear model including mediate effects and moderate effects," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 754-769.
    11. Chen, Feng-Wen & Xu, Jingwei & Wang, Jiang & Li, Zhilong & Wu, Yongqiu, 2023. "Do rising labour costs promote technology upgrading? A novel theoretical hypothesis of an inverted U-shaped relationship," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 327-341.
    12. Xiaofeng Quan & Yun Ke & Yuting Qian & Yao Zhang, 2023. "CEO Foreign Experience and Green Innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 535-557, January.
    13. Zhong Ma & Guang Shu & Qi Wang & Longfeng Wang, 2022. "Sustainable Governance and Green Innovation: A Perspective from Gender Diversity in China’s Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, May.
    14. Xiuli Sun & Cui Zhou & Zhuojiong Gan, 2023. "Green Finance Policy and ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-27, April.
    15. Shuang Meng & Huan Yan & Jiajie Yu, 2022. "Global Value Chain Participation and Green Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-17, July.
    16. Zhou, Peng & Song, Frank M. & Huang, Xiaoqi, 2023. "Environmental regulations and firms' green innovations: Transforming pressure into incentives," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Yucai Hu & Shaorui Du & Yukun Wang & Xinya Yang, 2023. "How Does Green Insurance Affect Green Innovation? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-15, August.
    18. Croce, M.M. & Nguyen, Thien T. & Raymond, S. & Schmid, L., 2019. "Government debt and the returns to innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(3), pages 205-225.
    19. Lai, Kee-hung & Feng, Yunting & Zhu, Qinghua, 2023. "Digital transformation for green supply chain innovation in manufacturing operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    20. Jiang, Pengcheng & Jiang, Hongli & Wu, Jiahui, 2022. "Is inhibition of financialization the sub-effect of the green credit policy? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bba:j00001:v:2:y:2023:i:3:p:21-42:d:43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ramona Wang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.anserpress.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.