How Does CEO's Environmental Awareness Affect Technological Innovation?

Green fiscal policy and enterprise green innovation: evidence from quasi-natural experiment of China

We aim to study the impact of green fiscal policy on enterprise green innovation by applying a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model, and treat the comprehensive demonstration city of fiscal policy for energy conservation and emission reduction (CPEE) in China as a quasi-natural experiment. The results show that the CPEE can significantly improve enterprise's green innovation performance of pilot area. This net policy effect is valid after a series of robustness tests to control for various potential confounding factors. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect of CPEE is stronger for state-owned enterprises and enterprises in high energy consumption industries or industries with higher industrial concentration. In addition, the effect of CPEE is various among different categories of green patents, which is stronger for the types of alternative energy production category, waste management category, administrative supervision and design category. The mechanism test indicates that the CPEE can improve the green innovation performance by increasing enterprise' investment in research and development, promoting territorial industrial transformation and upgrading, and enhancing enterprise executives' environmental awareness. To achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, the green enabling role of fiscal reform pilot policy in transition economies and the applicability of localized policies should be excavated.

Exploring the impact mechanism of executives' environmental attention on corporate green transformation: evidence from the textual analysis of Chinese companies' management discussion and analysis

The allocation of executives' environmental attention (EEA) is of great significance in promoting the green upgrading of industrial structures and achieving corporate green transformation. Based on upper echelon theory and the attention-based view, we use panel data of Chinese manufacturing companies from 2015 to 2020 to construct a two-way fixed effects model to explore the impact mechanism of EEA on corporate green transformation performance (CGTP). Baseline regression shows that EEA significantly improves CGTP. The reliability of findings is verified by reducing time windows, replacing the independent variable, expanding the data source, and adding missing variables. In the heterogeneity analysis, the positive effect of EEA on CGTP is significant for eastern companies and does not differ in the property rights grouping. After propensity score matching, environmental attribute grouping shows that the positive effect of EEA on CGTP is more significant for non-heavy polluters. Extended research shows that government subsidies have a positive moderating effect, while female executives play only a symbolic role. Moreover, green innovation activities have positive partial mediating effects. Green innovation is the best way to address environmental pollution and achieve corporate green transformation. Our research provides implications for decision-makers to allocate their attention, and thereby achieve green development appropriately.

Executives' ESG cognition and enterprise green innovation: Evidence based on executives' personal microblogs

Based on cognitive theory, we investigated the influence of executives' ESG cognition on corporate green innovation using data from Chinese manufacturing listed companies from 2010 to 2019. The paper first constructs a metric of ESG cognition of company executives by presenting a quantitative analysis of data from their personal microblogs using textual analysis. The findings show that executive ESG perceptions significantly improve corporate green innovation. After addressing the endogeneity issue through a series of robustness tests, the findings of this paper still held true. Further research found that the enhancement effect of executive ESG perceptions on firms' green innovation level was mainly found in the sample without heavy pollution and with lower financing constraints and a higher marketization process. This study makes an important contribution to the research on corporate green innovation based on the perspective of executive ESG cognition while also providing a theoretical basis and practical reference for corporate green innovation practices.

Do Visionary-Feedback Seeking CEOs Enhance Firm Sustainability Through Eco-Innovation? A Moderated Mediation Model

Based on upper echelons, paradox, and social capital theory, this study extends the association of CEO vision articulation and feedback-seeking behavior with firm sustainability by identifying the mediating role of eco-innovation and top management team (TMT) boundary-spanning behavior as a moderator. By analyzing the data of mid-sized to large Chinese firms using hierarchical regression and bootstrapping-based moderated path analysis, we found that product and process eco-innovation mediates the link between CEO vision articulation and firm sustainability while CEO feedback-seeking behavior enhances firm's sustainability through product eco-innovation only. Finally, conditional indirect effects show the vital role of TMT boundary-spanning behavior in facilitating CEOs to improve the firm's long-term sustainability through eco-innovation.

The Factors that Influence the Intention of Marketing and Technological Innovation in MSMEs

Innovation drives change, and conversely, innovation occurs because of change. Initially, innovation was only oriented toward technology in discovering new products. Only large companies could do it since it requires a challenging process. All levels, including MSMEs, could carry out further developments and innovation because innovation is not only about technological innovations. Based on this, the research objectives are to analyze the influence of the MSME owner’s characteristics on the intention of marketing and technological innovation through attitude and motivation in Indonesia. SEM analysis with the Smart-PLS program was used to answer the research objectives. The population in this study is the Indonesian micro, small, and medium enterprises from various types of businesses. Samples are 128 respondents to meet Hair theory. The minimum threshold for processing by the Smart PLS program is 100. Judgment sampling is defined as the sampling technique. The results of this study are attitude and motivation affect innovation intentions, both directly and as intervening variables that encourage curiosity, optimism, and risk-taking. Opinion leadership, social status, attitudes, and motivation influence the intention of marketing innovation, whereas awareness, financial stability, optimism, risk-taking, attitudes, and motivation directly affect the intention of technological innovation. The findings of this study are useful for the government and social organizations as a companion for MSMEs to massively increase intention in innovation for MSMEs by creating activities that foster attitudes and motivation to innovate. With the massive formation of attitudes and motivation to innovate, several characteristics possessed by MSME owners are encouraged to strengthen, thus giving rise to the intention to innovate. The innovations carried out by MSMEs on a massive scale can improve their performance and become a solution to the downturn. These characteristics, attitudes, and motivations are the novelty of this research, which are the factors influencing the intention to innovate, both marketing and technological innovation.

The research on the relationship between corporate innovation, enforcement and board characteristics on the background of artificial intelligence–taking chinese listed companies as an example

In this era of artificial intelligence and information, the transformation and upgrading of enterprises plays a crucial role in their development. This study analyzes the regulatory penalties of listed companies published by the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges from 1996 to 2017, and explores the relationship between the number of enforcements of these companies and their innovation ability. Existing research literature confirms that board characteristics, including the gender of the CEO and whether the CEO has an overseas background, will have a significant impact on the company’s ability to innovate and the likelihood of corporate penalties. Therefore, this study selects the two moderator variables of the chairman’s gender and whether the chairman has overseas study background. This study uses the To bit model and establishes three hypotheses to verify whether the company’s ability to innovate can significantly affect the number of times they are enforced, whether the chairman’s gender and whether the chairman’s overseas background will have a moderator effect on this relationship. The analysis results confirm these three assumptions.

Environmental Regulation, Environmental Awareness and Environmental Governance Satisfaction

It is a problem worth thinking about whether the government’s environmental regulation policies can meet the residents’ requirements for environmental quality, and benefit the people. The study of the public’s subjective evaluation can more intuitively judge whether the government’s environmental regulation has realized “ecological benefits for the people”. Based on the data of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2013, this paper studied the impact of environmental regulation and environmental awareness on environmental governance satisfaction by an ordered probit model. The study found that environmental regulation has a significant positive impact on environmental governance satisfaction, while environmental awareness has a significant negative impact on environmental governance satisfaction. We also found that when public environmental awareness is taken into account, the positive relationship between environmental regulation and environmental governance satisfaction is affected. The robustness test proved this conclusion.

Stock Market Liberalization and Corporate Green Innovation: Evidence from China

Corporate green innovation is an effective way to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. Enterprises’ willingness to pursue green innovation is increasingly affected by external factors. By using a quasi-natural experiment of China’s Stock Connect program, we investigate the impact of stock market liberalization on corporate green innovation. We find that stock market liberalization increases enterprises’ green innovation, especially for state-owned enterprises. We also find that stock market liberalization plays a stronger role in promoting the green invention patents of enterprises whose managers have overseas experience and enterprises in areas with a higher degree of openness. Our mechanism analysis suggests that stock market liberalization attracts the attention of securities analysts and increases managers’ focus on environmental protection, thereby promoting corporate green innovation. Our findings show that stock market liberalization plays an important role in the governance of firms’ non-financial behavior, which has important theoretical and practical implications.

The Influence of Confucianism on Corporate Environmental Investment: Evidence from Chinese Private Firms

While China’s economic development has made tremendous progress, it has also caused serious environmental pollution problems. This paper uses the date of the Chinese Private Enterprise Survey (CPES) to empirically investigate the impact of Confucianism on corporate environmental investment and its internal mechanism. The results show that: (1) Confucianism plays a significant role in corporate environmental investment. (2) In the areas where environmental regulation is relatively weak, Confucianism has a more significant effect on promoting corporate environmental investment. (3) The positive influence of Confucianism on corporate environmental investment is more obvious in heavy polluting industries. This paper’s conclusions deepen the theoretical cognition of the economic consequences of Confucianism and enrich the relevant literature on the subject of Confucianism. At the same time, this paper also expands the understanding of the determinants of corporate environmental investment from the perspective of the informal institution.

The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Attention on Innovation Performance: Evidence from High-polluting Industries

High-polluting industries are important sources of pollutant emissions, and closely related to many environmental issues. High-polluting firms face the pressure to exploit technological innovation for improving their environmental operations. This paper explores the impact of corporate social responsibility and public attention on the innovation performance of high-polluting firms. Based on a sample of China’s listed firms in high-polluting industries from 2011 to 2016, we use a panel data model to investigate the associations among corporate social responsibility, public attention and innovation performance. The results show that there is a positive association between corporate social responsibility and innovation performance. There is a positive association between public attention and innovation performance as well. The pressure of regional economies can hinder innovation performance. Furthermore, in the subsample of state-owned enterprises, the association between public attention and innovation performance is more pronounced. Meanwhile, the corporate social responsibility of non-state-owned enterprises plays a stronger role for innovation performance, but its effect will be limited by the pressure of regional economies. Our results can help high-polluting firms implement the innovation strategies for obtaining more environmental benefits and achieving sustainable development.

Working in a Physically Dangerous Work Environment: Employee Vitality and Sustainable Behavior

There is a limited understanding of the antecedents and consequences of employee vitality during war zone exposure. The current study is one of the first ones to investigate the direct effects of perceived danger on employee vitality by collecting data from Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Furthermore, it was investigated how employee vitality affects sustainable behavior at the workplace. The hypotheses of the study have been tested by using data from two surveys collected from 192 employees working in small-sized private businesses in Afghanistan. The results indicate that high levels of perceived danger negatively impact employee vitality at work. In addition, we found that employees with vitality engage in more pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. The engagement of vital employees in pro-environmental behavior is higher among those employees who have a high level of environmental awareness. This paper concludes by presenting the limitations and implications of this study, as well as highlighting potential avenues for future research.

How Can We Improve the Transformation Success Rate of Research Results in the Pharmaceutical Industry? The Game Theoretic Model of Technology Transfer Subjects

University–industry technology transfer (UITT) plays an important role in the construction of the national pharmaceutical innovation system. The speculations of a faculty inventor may hinder the successful transfer of pharmaceutical research results. This paper divides the specific process of the transformation of pharmaceutical research results into two parts: (1) an evolutionary game between faculty inventors and universities; and (2) a Stackelberg game between faculty inventors and pharmaceutical companies. Further, we carry out numerical simulations to analyze the impact of transformation success rate, income distribution coefficient, and a faculty inventor’s future working years on the transformation of pharmaceutical research results. The findings indicated that whether a combination of action strategies of faculty inventors and universities can evolve to the optimal equilibrium is determined by many factors, such as the technological transaction price of the pharmaceutical company and the reward or the income obtained by the faculty inventor. The transformation success rate and the income distribution coefficient are the key factors that affect the faculty inventor’s will and the behavior of the pharmaceutical company. The conclusions of this paper contribute to the research on how we can improve the success rate of research results and avoid resource waste, and provide a decision-making reference for the management of pharmaceutical research results in universities.