Foreign shareholders and the green internationalization strategy of enterprises: A response to the governance supervision and "locust invasion" perspectives

Existing research on the economic consequences of foreign shareholders presents divergent views on governance oversight and the "locust invasion" logic. In the context of China's emphasis on low-carbon green transformation, this study explores the impact of foreign shareholders under the "Bring In" policy on the corporate green "Going Global" strategy. Based on manually identified data on corporate overseas green investments (OGI), the results partially support the governance supervision view of foreign investment, indicating that, overall, foreign shareholders can enhance enterprises' overseas green investments. The influencing mechanisms include corporate green cognition, bridging information gaps between host and home countries, and resource support. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of foreign shareholders on OGIs is more pronounced in "ownerless" companies and in heavily polluting industries. Further distinction of foreign shareholder components shows that foreign industrial capital and bank capital can significantly enhance OGIs, while foreign venture capital, mainly from equity investment funds and venture capital funds, does not have an impact. This study addresses the logical divergence in existing research regarding the influence of foreign shareholders from the perspective of OGIs as a long-term strategic focus, while also deepening the understanding of the motivations behind foreign equity holding decisions through distinguishing the components of foreign capital.