Gaining sustainable development by green supply chain innovation: Perspectives of specific investments and stakeholder engagement

Despite general attention has been given to sustainable development and green innovation, little empirical effort has been made to explore the factors influencing green innovation performance in the context of supply chain relationships, especially in emerging countries like China. To address this research gap, from the perspectives of specific investments, we examine the role of specific investments in relation to the outcome of green supply chain innovation. Drawing on knowledge management theory, we propose that knowledge transfer plays a mediating role underlying the relationship. On the basis of the stakeholder involvement theory, we argue that partner social responsibility plays moderating roles not only in specific investments—green supply chain innovation performance link—but also in the link of knowledge transfer and performance. We tested the proposed relationships with a sample consisted of 331 questionnaires and validated responses from 187 high‐tech firms in China. The results generally support the proposed hypotheses, and the integrative model—moderated mediation—is also supported. As such, this study contributes to understand about how specific investments affect the performance of green supply chain innovation, providing new insights on stakeholder involvement and knowledge transfer in green supply chain innovation management.