IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i9p4828-d543291.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Trust and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from Listed Firms in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yaru Yang

    (School of Management, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China
    All authors contribute to the paper equally.)

  • Desheng Liu

    (School of Management, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China
    All authors contribute to the paper equally.)

  • Luxiu Zhang

    (Business School, University of Jinan, Jinan 250002, China
    All authors contribute to the paper equally.)

  • Yingkai Yin

    (School of Economics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
    All authors contribute to the paper equally.)

Abstract

Green Technology innovation intends to enable the advancement of technologies toward the goals of human health, natural resource sustainability and social equity. Green technology innovation has become an important driving force for the sustainable growth of the global economy. In this study, building upon the theories on informal institutions, we empirically investigate the effects of social trust on green technology innovation. Using a sample of companies listed in A-share markets in China from 2012 to 2017, we find that social trust has a significant positive impact on the performance of green technology innovation. We employ an instrumental variable approach through two-stage-least square estimator, and report consistent results. Further heterogeneity analysis finds that with higher levels of policy uncertainty and lower levels of intellectual property rights protection, the effect of social trust on firms’ green technology innovation is more significant. Further, the effect of social trust on firms’ green technology of non-SOEs innovation is larger than SOEs. In addition, the positive effect of social trust on green technology innovation in firms is an effective supplement for formal systems to promote green technology innovation in said firms, which provides a new theoretical reference for promoting firms’ green technology innovation and achieving high-quality development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yaru Yang & Desheng Liu & Luxiu Zhang & Yingkai Yin, 2021. "Social Trust and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from Listed Firms in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4828-:d:543291
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4828/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4828/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Raffaello Bronzini & Eleonora Iachini, 2014. "Are Incentives for R&D Effective? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Approach," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 100-134, November.
    2. George van Leeuwen & Pierre Mohnen, 2017. "Revisiting the Porter hypothesis: an empirical analysis of Green innovation for the Netherlands," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1-2), pages 63-77, February.
    3. Marius Ley & Tobias Stucki & Martin Woerter, 2016. "The Impact of Energy Prices on Green Innovation," The Energy Journal, , vol. 37(1), pages 41-76, January.
    4. Stock, James H & Wright, Jonathan H & Yogo, Motohiro, 2002. "A Survey of Weak Instruments and Weak Identification in Generalized Method of Moments," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(4), pages 518-529, October.
    5. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    6. Popp, David, 2006. "International innovation and diffusion of air pollution control technologies: the effects of NOX and SO2 regulation in the US, Japan, and Germany," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 46-71, January.
    7. Liming Zhang & Fei Ye & Li Yang & Guichuan Zhou, 2019. "Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Environmental Performance: From a Green Development Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    8. David, Paul A. & Hall, Bronwyn H. & Toole, Andrew A., 2000. "Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 497-529, April.
    9. Tsai, Li-Chuan & Zhang, Ruhui & Zhao, Cuifang, 2019. "Political connections, network centrality and firm innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 180-184.
    10. Wang Dong & Hongling Han & Yun Ke & Kam C. Chan, 2018. "Social Trust and Corporate Misconduct: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 539-562, August.
    11. Brockman, Paul & Khurana, Inder K. & Zhong, Rong (Irene), 2018. "Societal trust and open innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 2048-2065.
    12. Rongzhu Ke & Weiying Zhang, 2003. "Trust in China: A Cross-Regional Analysis," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-586, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    13. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    14. Jin, Dawei & Wang, Haizhi & Wang, Peng & Yin, Desheng, 2016. "Social trust and foreign ownership: Evidence from qualified foreign institutional investors in China," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-14.
    15. Wu, Wenfeng & Firth, Michael & Rui, Oliver M., 2014. "Trust and the provision of trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 146-159.
    16. Li, Xiaorong & Wang, Steven Shuye & Wang, Xue, 2019. "Trust and IPO underpricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 224-248.
    17. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    18. Yingyuan Guo & Xingneng Xia & Sheng Zhang & Danping Zhang, 2018. "Environmental Regulation, Government R&D Funding and Green Technology Innovation: Evidence from China Provincial Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, March.
    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. Liu, Menghe & Li, Yuxiao, 2022. "Environmental regulation and green innovation: Evidence from China's carbon emissions trading policy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    2. Chen, Jiangtao & Cai, Wenyu & Luo, Jiamei & Mao, Hongyi, 2025. "How does digital trust boost open innovation? Evidence from a mixed approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    3. Gan, Jiawu & Liu, Lihua & Qiao, Gang & Zhang, Qin, 2023. "The role of robot adoption in green innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Lyu, Xiaoliang & Ma, Jiameng & Zhang, Xiaochen, 2023. "Social trust and corporate innovation: An informal institution perspective," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Xiang, Xunyong & Luo, Wenjie & Li, Bin & Liang, Wenquan, 2025. "Decentralized government and firm pollution discharges: Evidence from China’s Province-Managing-County reform," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Mingtao Wang & Chunming Ye & Dingkun Zhang, 2022. "Evaluation of Green Manufacturing Level in China’s Provincial Administrative Regions Based on Combination Weighting Method and TOPSIS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    7. Xiaonan Fan & Sainan Ren & Yang Liu, 2023. "The Driving Factors of Green Technology Innovation Efficiency—A Study Based on the Dynamic QCA Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-25, June.
    8. Tu, Yongmei & Liu, Tianbao, 2022. "Tax cuts and firms’ R&D capital efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    9. Yang, Shoufu & Kong, Dongmin & He, Jiaqiong, 2025. "Social identity or social capital: Local CEOs and corporate ESG performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    10. Haochang Yang & Xuan Zhu, 2022. "Research on Green Innovation Performance of Manufacturing Industry and Its Improvement Path in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-21, June.
    11. Guo, Haicheng & Liu, Sibo & Zhan, Chaoqun, 2025. "Corruption culture of multinationals: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    12. Wan, Yinglin & Gao, Yuchen & Hu, Yimei, 2022. "Blockchain application and collaborative innovation in the manufacturing industry: Based on the perspective of social trust," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    13. Chunhua Xin & Xiaolu Hao & Lu Cheng, 2022. "Do Environmental Administrative Penalties Affect Audit Fees? Results from Multiple Econometric Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-25, April.
    14. He, Feng & Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Yuanyuan & Yang, Jinyu, 2025. "Inventor executive turnover and inventors' high-quality innovation in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Ding, Xiaoya (Sara) & Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Niu, Geng, 2023. "Social trust and firm innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 474-493.
    16. Yanqi Sun & Kun Su & Wei Cai & Min Bai, 2025. "Is transparency in sustainability the fruit of business trust: Evidence from sustainability disclosure?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 2407-2426, July.
    17. Liu, Chen & Yang, Wei, 2023. "Does social insurance stimulate business creation? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    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. Peng Liu & Daxin Dong, 2020. "Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Trade Credit Provision: The Role of Social Trust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, February.
    2. Lyu, Xiaoliang & Ma, Jiameng & Zhang, Xiaochen, 2023. "Social trust and corporate innovation: An informal institution perspective," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Ding, Xiaoya (Sara) & Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Niu, Geng, 2023. "Social trust and firm innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 474-493.
    4. Shahab, Yasir & Wang, Peng & Gull, Ammar Ali & Chen, Yugang & Ntim, Collins G., 2023. "Social trust and environmental performance in China: Does state ownership matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    5. Yasir Shahab & Zhiwei Ye & Jia Liu & Muhammad Nadeem, 2025. "Social Trust, Environmental Violations, and Remedial Actions in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 198(3), pages 637-654, May.
    6. Chen, Yangyang & Duong, Huu Nhan & Goyal, Abhinav & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2023. "Social capital and the pricing of initial public offerings," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    7. Huang, Jin & Jin, Yong & Duan, Yang & She, Yanling, 2023. "Do Chinese firms speculate during high economic policy uncertainty? Evidence from wealth management products," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Sensoy, Ahmet & Liao, Jing & Xie, Xiaochen, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and green innovation: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    9. Baoyin Qiu & Junli Yu & Kuo Zhang, 2020. "Trust and Stock Price Synchronicity: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 97-109, November.
    10. Vural-Yavaş, Çiğdem, 2020. "Corporate risk-taking in developed countries: The influence of economic policy uncertainty and macroeconomic conditions," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Mo Chen & Xuhua Hu & Jijian Zhang & Zhe Xu & Guang Yang & Zenan Sun, 2023. "Are Firms More Willing to Seek Green Technology Innovation in the Context of Economic Policy Uncertainty? —Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-24, September.
    12. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    13. Xiangyu Chen & Peng Wan, 2020. "Social trust and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 485-500, March.
    14. Shi, Luqing & Yin, Zhujia & Zhang, Yun & Song, Linjia & Yang, Xin, 2025. "Regional financial risk and firms' access to trade credit: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Gu, Leilei & Liu, Zhongyang & Ma, Sichao & Wang, Hongyu, 2022. "Social trust and corporate financial asset holdings: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    16. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Wu, Qiang, 2019. "Bank credit and trade credit: Evidence from natural experiments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    17. Banerjee, Pradip & Dutta, Shantanu & Zhu, Pengcheng, 2021. "Multidimensionality of text based financial constraints and working capital management," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    18. Chen, Xuchang & Wu, Changqi, 2023. "Subnational social trust and the internationalization of emerging market firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    19. Chen, Xuchang & Zhang, Zhu, 2025. "Fintech development and corporate misconduct," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    20. Wan, Qunchao & Chen, Jin & Yao, Zhu & Yuan, Ling, 2022. "Preferential tax policy and R&D personnel flow for technological innovation efficiency of China's high-tech industry in an emerging economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4828-:d:543291. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.