IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v140y2024ics0140988324006790.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate green innovation under environmental regulation: The role of ESG ratings and greenwashing

Author

Listed:
  • Peng, Dan
  • Kong, Qunxi

Abstract

China's economic trajectory has transitioned from prioritizing rapid growth to emphasizing quality, efficiency, and sustainability. In this context, balancing environmental protection with the promotion of a green economy has become increasingly significant. This study investigates the relationship between environmental regulation and green innovation in Chinese enterprises using data from listed companies spanning 2007 to 2019. The results indicate that environmental regulations positively influence green innovation among firms, a finding validated by robustness checks, including instrumental variable methods. Furthermore, the study identifies corporate greenwashing behaviors and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance as mediating factors. Firms resort to greenwashing strategies to mitigate regulatory pressures while simultaneously fulfilling their ESG responsibilities, thus contributing to green innovation. Additionally, the study reveals that the impact of environmental regulations on green innovation is heterogeneous, varying according to the external economic environment, firm ownership, and industry characteristics. The positive effect is more pronounced under lower levels of government intervention, in private enterprises, and among energy and new energy sectors. These findings underscore the nuanced dynamics between regulatory frameworks and corporate innovation in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi, 2024. "Corporate green innovation under environmental regulation: The role of ESG ratings and greenwashing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:140:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324006790
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107971
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988324006790
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107971?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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:eee:eneeco:v:140:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324006790. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    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.