IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v140y2024ics0140988324006790.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate green innovation under environmental regulation: The role of ESG ratings and greenwashing

Author

Listed:
  • Peng, Dan
  • Kong, Qunxi

Abstract

China's economic trajectory has transitioned from prioritizing rapid growth to emphasizing quality, efficiency, and sustainability. In this context, balancing environmental protection with the promotion of a green economy has become increasingly significant. This study investigates the relationship between environmental regulation and green innovation in Chinese enterprises using data from listed companies spanning 2007 to 2019. The results indicate that environmental regulations positively influence green innovation among firms, a finding validated by robustness checks, including instrumental variable methods. Furthermore, the study identifies corporate greenwashing behaviors and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance as mediating factors. Firms resort to greenwashing strategies to mitigate regulatory pressures while simultaneously fulfilling their ESG responsibilities, thus contributing to green innovation. Additionally, the study reveals that the impact of environmental regulations on green innovation is heterogeneous, varying according to the external economic environment, firm ownership, and industry characteristics. The positive effect is more pronounced under lower levels of government intervention, in private enterprises, and among energy and new energy sectors. These findings underscore the nuanced dynamics between regulatory frameworks and corporate innovation in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng, Dan & Kong, Qunxi, 2024. "Corporate green innovation under environmental regulation: The role of ESG ratings and greenwashing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:140:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324006790
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107971
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988324006790
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107971?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yu Zhang & Yajuan Wang, 2022. "Do Managerial Ties Help or Hinder Corporate Green Innovation? The Moderating Roles of Contextual Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Kong, Qunxi & Peng, Dan & Ni, Yehui & Jiang, Xinyue & Wang, Ziqi, 2021. "Trade openness and economic growth quality of China: Empirical analysis using ARDL model," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    3. Kent Walker & Fang Wan, 2012. "The Harm of Symbolic Actions and Green-Washing: Corporate Actions and Communications on Environmental Performance and Their Financial Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(2), pages 227-242, August.
    4. Mingyue Wang & Junbi Zhou & Xiaojin Xia & Zitong Wang, 2022. "The Mixed Impact of Environmental Regulations and External Financing Constraints on Green Technological Innovation of Enterprise," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Zhang, Dongyang & Bai, Dingchuan & Wang, Yizhi, 2024. "Green vs. brown: Climate risk showdown – who’s thriving, who’s diving?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    6. Hering, Laura & Poncet, Sandra, 2014. "Environmental policy and exports: Evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 296-318.
    7. Zhang, Dongyang & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Green energy transition and sustainable development of energy firms: An assessment of renewable energy policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Kong, Qunxi & Li, Rongrong & Wang, Ziqi & Peng, Dan, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm investment decisions: Dilemma or opportunity?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Mallory Elise Flowers & Daniel C. Matisoff & Douglas S. Noonan, 2020. "In the LEED: Racing to the Top in Environmental Self‐Regulation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2842-2856, September.
    10. Zhang, Dongyang & Bai, Dingchuan & Chen, Xingyu, 2024. "Can crude oil futures market volatility motivate peer firms in competing ESG performance? An exploration of Shanghai International Energy Exchange," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    11. Zhang, Dongyang & Bai, Dingchuan & Wang, Cao & He, Yurun, 2024. "Distribution dynamics and quantile dynamic convergence of the digital economy: Prefecture-level evidence in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    12. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    13. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lei, Hao & Gao, Renyuan & Ning, Chutong & Sun, Guanglin, 2025. "Green finance and corporate green innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Mao Chai & Chao Wu & Yusen Luo & Claudia Nyarko Mensah, 2025. "New Energy Demonstration City Policy and Corporate Green Innovation: From the Perspective of Industrial and Regional Spillover Effect," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-23, April.

    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. Wang, Ziqi & Li, Rongrong & Kong, Qunxi, 2024. "Shanghai oil futures prices and firms' investment decisions: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    2. Zhang, Weike & Luo, Qian & Liu, Shiyuan, 2022. "Is government regulation a push for corporate environmental performance? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 105-121.
    3. Cai, Hechang & Wang, Zilong & Zhang, Zhiwen & Xu, Liuyang, 2023. "Does environmental regulation promote technology transfer? Evidence from a partially linear functional-coefficient panel model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Xu, Xiaoying & Jin, Mei & Gong, Xinshu, 2024. "Local environmental goal constraint intensity and corporate ESG performance: An empirical observation based on China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    5. Zhang, Dongyang & Bai, Dingchuan & He, Yurun & Sun, Qiaobing, 2024. "Synergistic abatement effects of Broadband China and environmental regulation: Firm-level evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    6. Jiamin Liu & Xiaoyu Ma & Bin Zhao & Qi Cui & Sisi Zhang & Jiaoning Zhang, 2023. "Mandatory Environmental Regulation, Enterprise Labor Demand and Green Innovation Transformation: A Quasi-Experiment from China’s New Environmental Protection Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-31, July.
    7. Cheng, Zhen & Ding, Chante Jian & Zhao, Kunqian, 2025. "Energy use rights trading and carbon emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    8. Zheng, Suyi & Wen, Jiandong, 2024. "Green public procurement and corporate environmental performance: An empirical analysis based on data from green procurement contracts," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    9. Filiou, Despoina & Kesidou, Effie & Wu, Lichao, 2023. "Are smart cities green? The role of environmental and digital policies for Eco-innovation in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Han, Lei & Xiao, Zijun & Yu, Yongze, 2024. "Environmental judicature and enterprises’ green technology innovation: A revisit of the porter hypothesis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    11. Mao, Jie & Wang, Chunhua & Yin, Haitao, 2023. "Corporate responses to air quality regulation: Evidence from a regional environmental policy in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    12. Liu, Cenjie & Fang, Jiayu & Xie, Rui, 2021. "Energy policy and corporate financial performance: Evidence from China's 11th five-year plan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Zhang, Xiaoding & Niu, Yiran & Si, Deng-kui & Xiao, Zumian, 2024. "Regulatory greening: The impact of environmental legislation on corporate green innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 359-376.
    14. Croce, Annalisa & Toschi, Laura & Ughetto, Elisa & Zanni, Sara, 2024. "Cleantech and policy framework in Europe: A machine learning approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    15. Liu, Guangqiang & Guo, Liangju, 2023. "How does mandatory environmental regulation affect corporate environmental information disclosure quality," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. He, Yu & Zhao, Xiaoling & Zheng, Huan, 2023. "How does the environmental protection tax law affect firm ESG? Evidence from the Chinese stock markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    17. Chen, Wen & Zhu, Yufeng & He, Zehui & Yang, Yang, 2022. "The effect of local government debt on green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Lan, Minghui & Zhang, Guangli & Yan, Wei & Qi, Fen & Qin, Lihua, 2024. "Greening through courts:Environmental law enforcement and corporate green innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 223-242.
    19. Wang, Chang’an & Liu, Xiaoqian & Li, Han & Yang, Cunyi, 2023. "Analyzing the impact of low-carbon city pilot policy on enterprises' labor demand: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    20. Ying Zhang & Shouming Chen & Yujia Li & Disney Leite Ramos, 2024. "Does Environmental Protection Law Bring about Greenwashing? Evidence from Heavy-Polluting Firms in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-20, February.

    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:eee:eneeco:v:140:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324006790. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    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.