IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bbl/journl/v29y2026i2p107-123.html

Green innovation and firm performance in China: Empirical insights from A-share listed manufacturers

Author

Listed:
  • Ganglong Wu

    (Liming Vocational University)

  • Syed Ahmed Salman

    (Lincoln University College)

  • Baoting Huang

    (Liming Vocational University)

  • Tengkun Wang

    (Liming Vocational University)

Abstract

As environmental challenges intensify globally, green innovation has become a strategic imperative for firms seeking to balance ecological responsibility with sustained competitiveness. We examine whether green innovation improves firm performance in China’s manufacturing sector. Using panel data on 1,033 A-share manufacturers (2014–2023; 10,330 firm-years), we estimate two-way fixed-effects models (firm and year fixed effects (FE)) with cluster-robust standard errors (SE). Green innovation is measured by green patent outputs; firm performance is proxied by average return on equity (ROEAVG), with return on invested capital (ROIC) as a robustness outcome. Results show a positive and statistically significant association on average, with stronger effects in more developed regions. Findings remain under lagged-specification checks and alternative outcome measures. Conceptually, we extend the resource-based view by framing green innovation as a capability bundle whose payoff is conditioned by institutional context and absorptive capacity. Practically, predictable enforcement and disclosure raise both the quantity and influence of green patents and improve market pricing of eco-innovation; targeted, adoption-cost-reducing incentives tied to substantive innovation help curb greenwashing.

Suggested Citation

  • Ganglong Wu & Syed Ahmed Salman & Baoting Huang & Tengkun Wang, 2026. "Green innovation and firm performance in China: Empirical insights from A-share listed manufacturers," E&M Economics and Management, Technical University of Liberec, Faculty of Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 107-123, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bbl:journl:v:29:y:2026:i:2:p:107-123
    DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2026-2-008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2026-2-008
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.15240/tul/001/2026-2-008?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development

    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:bbl:journl:v:29:y:2026:i:2:p:107-123. 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: Vendula Pospisilova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hflibcz.html .

    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.