Science Research Management ›› 2023, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (12): 71-81.DOI: 10.19571/j.cnki.1000-2995.2023.12.008

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Organizational capital, stakeholder pressure and green innovation of enterprises

Jiang Yichi1, Yao Shujie2   

  1. 1. School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China; 
    2. Li Anmin Institute of Economic Research, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110136, Liaoning, China
  • Received:2022-04-25 Revised:2022-10-20 Online:2023-12-20 Published:2023-12-07

Abstract:    Corporate green innovation means the innovative behavior of production processes, new products and management models, with the aim of reducing environmental pollution and improving energy efficiency, and subsequently reducing the environmental risks of enterprises. The green technology innovation of Chinese enterprises is firstly influenced by environmental regulation. In the process of promoting the high-quality development of regional economy, local governments will promote the green transformation of local enterprises by means of environmental regulations, industrial guidance and green credit guidance. In addition, different stakeholders such as consumers, suppliers, employees and investors will also have an impact on the company′s environmental policies. The level of corporate governance and the characteristics of senior executives are also important factors affecting the green innovation decisions of enterprises. However, the above studies have not explored the role of the unique and irreplaceable organizational capital owned by enterprises. Organizational capital is not only embodied in important executives and employees and their social networks, but also rooted in organizational systems and production processes. Existing literature generally believes that organizational capital has a positive impact on firm value and firm behavior, but there are few studies examining the impact of organizational capital on firm sustainability. Therefore, this paper linked the organizational capital of Chinese listed companies with the green innovation behavior of enterprises, analyzed the motivation and economic consequences of the green innovation behavior of enterprises under the Chinese context, and then actively explored the formation of organizational capital conducive to enterprises, so as to provide new ideas for improving the sustainable development ability of Chinese listed companies.This paper examined the effect of testing the organizational capital of Chinese listed companies on corporate green innovation by measuring corporate green innovation behavior from two perspectives: substantive green innovation and strategic green innovation, and measured the corporate organizational capital in terms of the growth rates of selling expenses and administrative expenses from 2011-2019. The results of the benchmark regression found that higher levels of firm organizational capital significantly enhanced their green innovation capabilities. Based on organizational legitimacy theory, we also examined the heterogeneous effects of organizational capital on corporate green innovation under stakeholder pressure. We found that investor concern pressure enhances the positive influence of organizational capital on corporate green innovation, while environmental regulation pressure weakens the positive influence of organizational capital on corporate green innovation. Further tests of economic consequences also found that organizational capital enhances the financial and environmental social performance of firms by promoting their green innovation capabilities.Compared with the existing literature, the marginal contributions of this paper are: (1) it enriched the literature on the economic consequences of organizational capital by examining its impact on firm green innovation strategies. While a larger literature has examined the impact of organizational capital on firms′ investment and financing policies, few studies have focused on how organizational capital drives firms′ green transformation. (2) It enriched the literature related to the factors influencing corporate green innovation and sustainability strategies, focusing on the impact of organizational capital on green innovation and provides a different research perspective for green innovation research. (3) It examined the moderating effects of external investor concern pressure and environmental regulation pressure on organizational capital influencing corporate green innovation, and revealed whether corporate organizational capital enhances its sustainable development performance through green innovation, and the boundary conditions and economic consequences of organizational capital acting on green innovation. It provided a theoretical basis for Chinese enterprises to make and implement green investment decisions.This paper will provide some practical insights for tapping the organizational capital capabilities of enterprises to achieve high-quality development of Chinese listed companies. At present, China is in the critical period of implementing innovation-driven development strategy, the role of enterprises′ own resource endowments in influencing managers′ business decisions and resource allocation efficiency should be highly valued, and listed companies should be continuously stimulated to actively engage in green upgrading to achieve high-quality development. Firstly, corporate organizational capital provides a resource base for corporate development, and this resource base is critical for companies to gain sustainable competitive advantage. This requires listed companies to actively build organizational capital capabilities, which in turn can better serve corporate green innovation. Secondly, Chinese listed companies should actively respond to the concerns of corporate investors and stakeholders about corporate business decisions and development directions, transform the pressure of external investors′ concerns into incentive effects for corporate managers, raise managers′ awareness of green innovation, and maximize the role of organizational capital as a driver of green innovation. Finally, listed companies should grasp the market development opportunities and timely transform the enterprise green innovation patents into the environmental social performance and financial performance of the enterprise, and finally realize the sustainable development of the enterprise.

Key words: organizational capital, investor concern, environmental regulation, green innovation, sustainable development