IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v27y2018i7p849-857.html

Institutional pressure, knowledge acquisition and a firm's environmental innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Zhongju Liao

Abstract

Based on institution theory, resource‐based theory and innovation theory, this study proposes a framework to investigate how institutional pressure affects environmental innovation through the mediating role of knowledge acquisition. In total, 263 firms in the Chinese manufacturing industry were selected as the research sample, and a structural equation model was used to examine the mediating role of knowledge acquisition between regulative pressure, normative pressure, cognitive pressure and the firm's environmental innovation. The results showed that regulative pressure and normative pressure had positive effects on the firm's environmental innovation, whereas the effect of cognitive pressure was not significant. In addition, knowledge acquisition positively promoted environmental innovation, and played a mediating role between regulative pressure, normative pressure and environmental innovation. Finally, this paper provides suggestions for government policy‐makers and managers to promote environmental innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhongju Liao, 2018. "Institutional pressure, knowledge acquisition and a firm's environmental innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 849-857, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:7:p:849-857
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2036
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2036?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Giovanni Marin & Elena Paglialunga, 2016. "Eco-innovation, sustainable supply chains and environmental performance in European industries," LEM Papers Series 2016/19, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Kathy Babiak & Sylvia Trendafilova, 2011. "CSR and environmental responsibility: motives and pressures to adopt green management practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 11-24, January.
    3. Antonis Skouloudis & Konstantinos Evangelinos & Chrisovaladis Malesios, 2015. "Priorities and Perceptions for Corporate Social Responsibility: An NGO Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(2), pages 95-112, March.
    4. Marzucchi, Alberto & Montresor, Sandro, 2017. "Forms of knowledge and eco-innovation modes: Evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 208-221.
    5. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    6. Yalabik, Baris & Fairchild, Richard J., 2011. "Customer, regulatory, and competitive pressure as drivers of environmental innovation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(2), pages 519-527, June.
    7. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    8. David G Hyatt & Nicholas Berente, 2017. "Substantive or Symbolic Environmental Strategies? Effects of External and Internal Normative Stakeholder Pressures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1212-1234, December.
    9. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    10. Chakraborty, Pavel & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2017. "Does environmental regulation indirectly induce upstream innovation? New evidence from India," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 939-955.
    11. Scott R. Colwell & Ashwin W. Joshi, 2013. "Corporate Ecological Responsiveness: Antecedent Effects of Institutional Pressure and Top Management Commitment and Their Impact on Organizational Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 73-91, February.
    12. Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & German Arana & Olivier Boiral, 2016. "Outcomes of Environmental Management Systems: the Role of Motivations and Firms’ Characteristics," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8), pages 545-559, December.
    13. Natalia Ortiz‐de‐Mandojana & Javier Aguilera‐Caracuel & Matilde Morales‐Raya, 2016. "Corporate Governance and Environmental Sustainability: The Moderating Role of the National Institutional Context," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 150-164, May.
    14. Kuen‐Hung Tsai & Yi‐Chuan Liao, 2017. "Innovation Capacity and the Implementation of Eco‐innovation: Toward a Contingency Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 1000-1013, November.
    15. George P. Huber, 1991. "Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 88-115, February.
    16. Ching-Hsun Chang, 2011. "The Influence of Corporate Environmental Ethics on Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Role of Green Innovation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 361-370, December.
    17. Justin Doran & Geraldine Ryan, 2016. "The Importance of the Diverse Drivers and Types of Environmental Innovation for Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 102-119, February.
    18. Laura Sierra‐García & Ana Zorio‐Grima & María A. García‐Benau, 2015. "Stakeholder Engagement, Corporate Social Responsibility and Integrated Reporting: An Exploratory Study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(5), pages 286-304, September.
    19. Alessandro Muscio & Gianluca Nardone & Antonio Stasi, 2017. "How does the search for knowledge drive firms’ eco-innovation? Evidence from the wine industry," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 298-320, April.
    20. Ye, Fei & Zhao, Xiande & Prahinski, Carol & Li, Yina, 2013. "The impact of institutional pressures, top managers' posture and reverse logistics on performance—Evidence from China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 132-143.
    21. Angela Triguero & Lourdes Moreno‐Mondéjar & María A. Davia, 2016. "Leaders and Laggards in Environmental Innovation: An Empirical Analysis of SMEs in Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 28-39, January.
    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. Peter S. Hofman & Constantin Blome & Martin C. Schleper & Nachiappan Subramanian, 2020. "Supply chain collaboration and eco‐innovations: An institutional perspective from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2734-2754, September.
    2. Yu‐Xiang Yen, 2018. "Buyer–supplier collaboration in green practices: The driving effects from stakeholders," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1666-1678, December.
    3. Zhou, Min & Govindan, Kannan & Xie, Xiongbiao & Yan, Liang, 2021. "How to drive green innovation in China's mining enterprises? Under the perspective of environmental legitimacy and green absorptive capacity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Zhongju Liao & Xiang Zhu, 2022. "A configurational analysis of firms' environmental innovation: Evidence from China's key pollutant‐discharge listed companies," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1511-1522, December.
    5. Russell Tatenda Munodawafa & Satirenjit Kaur Johl, 2019. "A Systematic Review of Eco-Innovation and Performance from the Resource-Based and Stakeholder Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Zhongju Liao, 2018. "Corporate culture, environmental innovation and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1368-1375, December.
    7. Ayça Kubra Hizarci‐Payne & İlayda İpek & Gülüzar Kurt Gümüş, 2021. "How environmental innovation influences firm performance: A meta‐analytic review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1174-1190, February.
    8. Ying Guo & Lifang Wang, 2022. "Environmental Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Performance: The Role of Environmental Innovation and Stakeholder Pressure," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440211, February.
    9. Hartmann, Julia & Inkpen, Andrew & Ramaswamy, Kannan, 2022. "An FsQCA exploration of multiple paths to ecological innovation adoption in European transportation," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(5).
    10. Dayuan Li & Min Huang & Shenggang Ren & Xiaohong Chen & Lutao Ning, 2018. "Environmental Legitimacy, Green Innovation, and Corporate Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from CDP China 100," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1089-1104, July.
    11. Huang, Yi-Chun & Chen, Chih Ta, 2022. "Exploring institutional pressures, firm green slack, green product innovation and green new product success: Evidence from Taiwan's high-tech industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    12. Tariq, Adeel & Badir, Yuosre F. & Tariq, Waqas & Bhutta, Umair Saeed, 2017. "Drivers and consequences of green product and process innovation: A systematic review, conceptual framework, and future outlook," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 8-23.
    13. Dedrix Stephenson Bindeeba & Eddy Kurobuza Tukamushaba & Rennie Bakashaba, 2025. "Toward a holistic model of sustainable investment decision-making in SMEs: a structural approach in a developing economy," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Ren, Shenggang & He, Duojun & Yan, Ji & Zeng, Huixiang & Tan, Justin, 2022. "Environmental labeling certification and corporate environmental innovation: The moderating role of corporate ownership and local government intervention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 556-571.
    15. Dan Huang & Jie Cheng & Xiaofeng Quan & Yanling Wu, 2024. "Managerial attention to environmental protection and corporate green innovation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1047-1081, October.
    16. García-Granero, Eva M. & Piedra-Muñoz, Laura & Galdeano-Gómez, Emilio, 2020. "Measuring eco-innovation dimensions: The role of environmental corporate culture and commercial orientation," MPRA Paper 119909, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Qi Guoyou & Zeng Saixing & Tam Chiming & Yin Haitao & Zou Hailiang, 2013. "Stakeholders' Influences on Corporate Green Innovation Strategy: A Case Study of Manufacturing Firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    18. Pereira, Vijay & Nair, Asha KS. & Bhattacharyya, Som Sekhar, 2025. "Exploring and investigating the complementarity and multidimensionality of innovation for sustainability research: Past present and future," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    19. Zhongju Liao, 2018. "Social capital and firms' environmental innovations: The moderating role of environmental scanning," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1493-1501, December.
    20. Feifei Yu & Dong Jiang & Teng Wang, 2022. "The impact of green innovation on manufacturing small and medium enterprises corporate social responsibility fulfillment: The moderating role of regional environmental regulation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 712-727, May.

    More about this item

    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:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:7:p:849-857. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.