IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v93y2024ipbp602-624.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Mist of corporate innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Chiu, Ya-Ling
  • Luo, Jinbo
  • Boscaljon, Brian L.

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of air pollution on corporate innovation. Using the satellite generated Particulate Matter 2.5 concentration data in 390 cities in China over the period of 2000–2015, we find that severe air pollution (haze pollution) in a region may deteriorate the innovative performance of companies in the same region. Our results are robust to different air pollution and innovation measures. We employ both difference in differences and instrumental variable approaches to alleviate potential endogeneity concerns. In addition, we identify two possible mechanisms, reduced funds availability and loss of innovative talents, to explain the negative impact of air pollution on innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiu, Ya-Ling & Luo, Jinbo & Boscaljon, Brian L., 2024. "The Mist of corporate innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 602-624.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:93:y:2024:i:pb:p:602-624
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.04.039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024002946
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.04.039?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Petra Moser, 2005. "How Do Patent Laws Influence Innovation? Evidence from Nineteenth-Century World's Fairs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1214-1236, September.
    2. Andreas Beerli & Jan Ruffner & Michael Siegenthaler & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "The Abolition of Immigration Restrictions and the Performance of Firms and Workers: Evidence from Switzerland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 976-1012, March.
    3. Minetti, Raoul & Murro, Pierluigi & Paiella, Monica, 2015. "Ownership structure, governance, and innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 165-193.
    4. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    5. Jiekun Huang & Nianhang Xu & Honghai Yu, 2020. "Pollution and Performance: Do Investors Make Worse Trades on Hazy Days?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(10), pages 4455-4476, October.
    6. Lily H. Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2446-2477.
    7. Alfredo M. Bobillo & J.A. Rodríguez‐Sanz & F. Tejerina‐Gaite, 2018. "Corporate governance drivers of firm innovation capacity," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 721-741, August.
    8. Im, Hyun Joong & Park, Young Joon & Shon, Janghoon, 2015. "Product market competition and the value of innovation: Evidence from US patent data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 78-82.
    9. Howell, Anthony, 2016. "Firm R&D, innovation and easing financial constraints in China: Does corporate tax reform matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1996-2007.
    10. Shuo Han & Weijun Cui & Jin Chen & Yu Fu, 2019. "Female CEOs and Corporate Innovation Behaviors—Research on the Regulating Effect of Gender Culture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, January.
    11. Connie X. Mao & Jamie Weathers, 2019. "Employee treatment and firm innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7-8), pages 977-1002, July.
    12. Yang, Mu-Jeung & Li, Nicholas & Lorenz, Kueng, 2021. "The impact of emerging market competition on innovation and business strategy: Evidence from Canada," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 117-134.
    13. Cao, Xiaping & Cumming, Douglas & Zhou, Sili, 2020. "State ownership and corporate innovative efficiency," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    14. Yuan, Rongli & Wen, Wen, 2018. "Managerial foreign experience and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 752-770.
    15. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell, 2012. "The Impact of Pollution on Worker Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3652-3673, December.
    16. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Nicholas Rivers & Balazs Stadler, 2019. "The economic cost of air pollution: Evidence from Europe," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1584, OECD Publishing.
    17. Victor Chen & Jing Li & Daniel Shapiro & Xiaoxiang Zhang, 2014. "Ownership structure and innovation: An emerging market perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 1-24, March.
    18. Ning, Bo & Pan, Yue & Tian, Gary Gang & Xiao, Jinli, 2024. "Do CEO's cultural backgrounds enhance or impede corporate innovation?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    19. Chen, Chung-Jen & Lin, Bou-Wen & Lin, Ya-Hui & Hsiao, Yung-Chang, 2016. "Ownership structure, independent board members and innovation performance: A contingency perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3371-3379.
    20. Li Wang & Fei Xing & Yishan Yu & Yunhao Dai, 2021. "Does severe air pollution affect firm innovation: evidence from China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(7), pages 551-558, April.
    21. Sujuan Xie & Yujiang Chen & Yunguo Liu, 2021. "Internal governance and innovation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 2507-2538, April.
    22. Dong, Rui & Fisman, Raymond & Wang, Yongxiang & Xu, Nianhang, 2021. "Air pollution, affect, and forecasting bias: Evidence from Chinese financial analysts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 971-984.
    23. Chen, Jun & Hshieh, Shenje & Zhang, Feng, 2021. "The role of high-skilled foreign labor in startup performance: Evidence from two natural experiments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 430-452.
    24. Levy, Tamir & Yagil, Joseph, 2011. "Air pollution and stock returns in the US," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 374-383, June.
    25. Alexander Donges & Jean-Marie Meier & Rui C. Silva, 2023. "The Impact of Institutions on Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(4), pages 1951-1974, April.
    26. Sunder, Jayanthi & Sunder, Shyam V. & Zhang, Jingjing, 2017. "Pilot CEOs and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 209-224.
    27. Viral V. Acharya & Ramin P. Baghai & Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian, 2014. "Wrongful Discharge Laws and Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 301-346, January.
    28. Tom Chang & Joshua Graff Zivin & Tal Gross & Matthew Neidell, 2016. "Particulate Pollution and the Productivity of Pear Packers," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 141-169, August.
    29. Stefano Bianchini & Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro & Jacques-Laurent Ravix, 2018. "Corporate governance and innovation: does firm age matter?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(2), pages 349-370.
    30. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    31. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    32. Filippo Belloc, 2012. "Corporate Governance And Innovation: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 835-864, December.
    33. Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Song, Frank M. & Li, Chuntao, 2011. "Managerial incentives, CEO characteristics and corporate innovation in China's private sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 176-190, June.
    34. Ma, Xinru & He, Jingbin, 2023. "Air pollution and corporate green innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    35. Daniel Shapiro & Yao Tang & Miaojun Wang & Weiying Zhang, 2015. "The effects of corporate governance and ownership on the innovation performance of Chinese SMEs," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 311-335, November.
    36. Gao, Lei & Han, Jianlei & Pan, Zheyao & Zhang, Huixuan, 2023. "Individualistic CEO and corporate innovation: Evidence from U.S. frontier culture," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    37. Chen, Shuai & Oliva, Paulina & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "The effect of air pollution on migration: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    38. Gao, Yanyan & Zang, Leizhen & Roth, Antoine & Wang, Puqu, 2017. "Does democracy cause innovation? An empirical test of the popper hypothesis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 1272-1283.
    39. Fu, Lili & Pan, Liyuan & Wu, Fengyun, 2021. "Does passive investment have a positive governance effect? Evidence from index funds ownership and corporate innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 524-545.
    40. Ting, Hsiu-I & Wang, Ming-Chun & Yang, J. Jimmy & Tuan, Kai-Wen, 2021. "Technical expert CEOs and corporate innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    41. Gray, Wayne B, 1987. "The Cost of Regulation: OSHA, EPA and the Productivity Slowdown," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 998-1006, December.
    42. Wang, Li & Dai, Yunhao & Kong, Dongmin, 2021. "Air pollution and employee treatment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    43. Gollop, Frank M & Roberts, Mark J, 1983. "Environmental Regulations and Productivity Growth: The Case of Fossil-Fueled Electric Power Generation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 654-674, August.
    44. Francis, Bill B. & Kim, Incheol & Wang, Bin & Zhang, Zhengyi, 2018. "Labor law and innovation revisited," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-15.
    45. Cho, Chanho & Halford, Joseph T. & Hsu, Scott & Ng, Lilian, 2016. "Do managers matter for corporate innovation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 206-229.
    46. Richard T. Thakor & Andrew W. Lo, 2015. "Competition and R&D Financing Decisions: Theory and Evidence from the Biopharmaceutical Industry," NBER Working Papers 20903, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    47. Yang, Chenlin & Xia, Xinping & Li, Yuguo & Zhao, Yufang & Liu, Shuang, 2021. "CEO financial career and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 81-102.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Weiping Li & Xuezhi Zhang & Shuyi Cheng & Xiaohang Ren, 2024. "Clear the air via dividends: Corporates' response to air pollution," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3383-3396, May.
    2. Jiang, Dequan & Li, Weiping & Shen, Yongjian & Zhang, Ying, 2022. "Does air quality affect firms’ investment efficiency? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-17.
    3. Ma, Xinru & He, Jingbin, 2023. "Air pollution and corporate green innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Chen, Zhibin & Xu, Yibin & Tian, Zongtao & Meng, Xu, 2022. "The Impact of Social Insurance Law on Corporate Innovation: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Ge, Jianjun & Li, Donghui & Ni, Yingzhao & Yang, Shijie, 2022. "Inflexibility and corporate innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Luo, Yue & Chen, Yangyang & Lin, Ji-Chai, 2022. "Does air quality affect inventor productivity? Evidence from the NOx budget program," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    7. Rui Zhao & Dawei Liang & Yukun Pan & Qianqian Du, 2022. "Air Pollution and Employee Protection: The Moderating Effect of Public Attention and Environmental Regulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Su, Zhong-qin & Xiao, Zuoping & Yu, Lin, 2019. "Do political connections enhance or impede corporate innovation?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 94-110.
    9. Li, Rong & Liu, Luxi & Qiu, Yun & Tian, Xiaohui, 2024. "Air pollution and stock returns: The cash flow risk channel," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Qing Wan & Xiaoke Cheng & Kam C. Chan & Shenghao Gao, 2021. "Born to innovate? The birth‐order effect of CEOs on corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1846-1888, October.
    11. Zhang, Ping & Wang, Yiru & Gao, Jieying, 2023. "Going public and innovation: Evidence from the ChiNext stock market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 586-613.
    12. Hao, Ying & Huang, Lixin & Huang, Yuxiu & Wei, Zi, 2023. "Air quality and CEO cross–regional turnover ——The role of compensation or incentive," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Beladi, Hamid & Hou, Qingsong & Hu, May, 2022. "The party school education and corporate innovation: Evidence from SOEs in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Liu, Shasha & Kong, Dongmin & Zhang, Jian, 2024. "Air pollution-induced brain drain: Evidence from inventor mobility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Xiaoxue Liu & Jingyun Zhou & You Wu & Na Hao, 2022. "The Influence of Party Organization Involvements in Corporate Governance on Innovation: Evidence from China’s Private-Owned Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-30, December.
    16. Jiao, Anqi & Lu, Juntai, 2024. "Buffing firm innovation by lobbying," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. Guo, Mengmeng & Wei, Mengxin & Huang, Lin, 2022. "Does air pollution influence investor trading behavior? Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    18. Ting Yao & Yue‐Jun Zhang, 2024. "The impact of air pollution on crude oil futures market," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(6), pages 1055-1068, June.
    19. Li, Tao & Wang, Yan, 2022. "Corporate responsibility towards employees and innovation: Evidence from an emerging market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. He Xiao, 2022. "How does air pollution affect corporate information environment?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 987-1016, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate innovation; Air pollution; Haze; Patents;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:reveco:v:93:y:2024:i:pb:p:602-624. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    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.