IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2024i1p161-d1555503.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Executive Accountability Pressure and Green Innovation: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Li Chen

    (School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Xiankun Deng

    (School of Economics and Management, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, China)

Abstract

This study explores the influence of the accountability system on corporate green innovation. Using data on Chinese A-share-listed companies from 2013 to 2022, we found that the accountability system significantly promotes green innovations in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Furthermore, the promoting effect is stronger in central SOEs as opposed to local SOEs. A mechanism analysis suggested that its positive effect may stem from improving corporate internal controls, curbing managerial myopia, and providing sufficient resources. In addition, heterogeneity tests suggested that the promoting effect of the accountability system on green innovation is more pronounced when the CEO is close to retirement or subject to high accountability pressure, in heavily polluting firms, and in regions with intense environmental regulations. Further analyses suggested that the accountability system also improves green innovation quality, persistence, and environmental performance. Our findings indicate that the accountability system has unexpected real effects on promoting corporate green innovation and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Chen & Xiankun Deng, 2024. "Executive Accountability Pressure and Green Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:161-:d:1555503
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/161/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/161/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Weike & Luo, Qian & Zhang, Yufeng & Yu, Ao, 2023. "Does green credit policy matter for corporate exploratory innovation? Evidence from Chinese enterprises," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 820-834.
    2. Mi, Zhou & Wang, Xiaoming, 2000. "Agency cost and the crisis of China's SOE," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 297-317.
    3. Xiaping Cao & Michael Lemmon & Xiaofei Pan & Meijun Qian & Gary Tian, 2019. "Political Promotion, CEO Incentives, and the Relationship Between Pay and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 2947-2965, July.
    4. Yu, Chin-Hsien & Wu, Xiuqin & Zhang, Dayong & Chen, Shi & Zhao, Jinsong, 2021. "Demand for green finance: Resolving financing constraints on green innovation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. Lily H. Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2446-2477.
    6. Markus Glaser & Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes & Zacharias Sautner, 2013. "Opening the Black Box: Internal Capital Markets and Managerial Power," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1577-1631, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Quan, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Ke & Zhong, Rui & Zhu, Yuxiang, 2023. "Political corruption and green innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Rosa Dangelico & Devashish Pujari, 2010. "Mainstreaming Green Product Innovation: Why and How Companies Integrate Environmental Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(3), pages 471-486, September.
    10. Yuan, Na & Gao, Yihong, 2022. "Does green credit policy impact corporate cash holdings?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Borghesi, Simone & Cainelli, Giulio & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2015. "Linking emission trading to environmental innovation: Evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 669-683.
    12. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    13. Liu, Baoliu & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Ding, Chante Jian & Liu, Xiaoqian, 2023. "Toward carbon neutrality: How will environmental regulatory policies affect corporate green innovation?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1006-1020.
    14. Claudia Ghisetti & Susanna Mancinelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Mariangela Zoli, 2017. "Financial barriers and environmental innovations: evidence from EU manufacturing firms," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(0), pages 131-147, June.
    15. Liew, Millie & Cao, June, 2024. "Green supply chain management for carbon accountability," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Maqsood, Umer Sahil & Wang, Shihao & Li, Qian & Ammar Zahid, R. M., 2024. "Protect your green line: Foreign residency rights and green innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    17. Zhao, Ziyi & Zhao, Yuhuan & Lv, Xin & Li, Xiaoping & Zheng, Lu & Fan, Shunan & Zuo, Sumin, 2024. "Environmental regulation and green innovation: Does state ownership matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    18. Huang, Xiaoqi & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Zhan & Zou, Xinyu & Li, Pujuan, 2023. "Quantity or quality: Environmental legislation and corporate green innovations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PB).
    19. Yang, Shubo & Jahanger, Atif & Hossain, Mohammad Razib, 2023. "How effective has the low-carbon city pilot policy been as an environmental intervention in curbing pollution? Evidence from Chinese industrial enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    20. Federico Boffa & Amedeo Piolatto & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2016. "Political Centralization and Government Accountability," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(1), pages 381-422.
    21. Haijun Wang & Jinlan Yang & Naiping Zhu, 2024. "Does Tax Incentives Matter to Enterprises’ Green Technology Innovation? The Mediating Role on R&D Investment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-20, July.
    22. Federico Boffa & Amedeo Piolatto & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2016. "Political Centralization and Government Accountability," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(1), pages 381-422.
    23. Grant, Ruth W. & Keohane, Robert O., 2005. "Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(1), pages 29-43, February.
    24. Xiaofeng Quan & Yun Ke & Yuting Qian & Yao Zhang, 2023. "CEO Foreign Experience and Green Innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 535-557, January.
    25. Zhang, Huiming & Wan, Dayu & Sun, Chuanwang & Wu, Kai & Lin, Caixia, 2023. "Does political inspection promote corporate green innovation?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    26. Beladi, Hamid & Hou, Qingsong & Hu, May, 2022. "The party school education and corporate innovation: Evidence from SOEs in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    27. Feng Zhang & Lei Zhu, 2019. "Enhancing corporate sustainable development: Stakeholder pressures, organizational learning, and green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1012-1026, September.
    28. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    29. Roberts, John, 1991. "The possibilities of accountability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 355-368.
    30. Wenjing Li & Xiaoyan Lu, 2016. "Institutional Interest, Ownership Type, and Environmental Capital Expenditures: Evidence from the Most Polluting Chinese Listed Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 459-476, October.
    31. He, Feng & Yan, Yulin & Hao, Jing & Wu, Ji (George), 2022. "Retail investor attention and corporate green innovation: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    32. Roper, Stephen & Tapinos, Efstathios, 2016. "Taking risks in the face of uncertainty: An exploratory analysis of green innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 357-363.
    33. Zhou, Tao & Huang, Xuhui & Zhang, Ning, 2023. "The effect of innovation pilot on carbon total factor productivity: Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    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. Ricardo Dahis & Christiane Szerman, 2023. "Decentralizing Development: Evidence from Government Splits," Monash Economics Working Papers 2023-18, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    2. Chen, Jidong & Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang & Zhang, Sihan, 2024. "Centralization of environmental administration and air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Nie, Song, 2024. "Does intellectual property rights protection matter for low-carbon transition? The role of institutional incentives," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Chuangneng Cai & Mengmeng Fan & Xuebing Dong & Jie Zhang, 2024. "The Effect of Environmental Protection-Related Media Coverage on Corporate Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Yiyang Gu & Peng Wu & Lei Gao, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Does the political promotion incentive of state-owned enterprise executives facilitate green innovation?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-31, April.
    6. Luo, Lianfa & Cheng, Zhiming & Ye, Qingqing & Cheng, Yanjun & Smyth, Russell & Yang, Zhiqing & Zhang, Le, 2024. "Nonmonetary awards and innovation: Evidence from winning China's Top Brand Contest," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Jingbo Cui & Zhenxuan Wang & Haishan Yu, 2022. "Can International Climate Cooperation Induce Knowledge Spillover to Developing Countries? Evidence from CDM," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(4), pages 923-951, August.
    8. 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.
    9. Fan, Lin & Peng, Binbin & Lin, Zhongguo & Zou, Hongyang & Du, Huibin, 2024. "The effects of green finance on pollution and carbon reduction: Evidence from China’s industrial firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Zhang, Hua & Lai, Jie, 2024. "Auditing leading officials: Unintended consequences of government audit reform on corporate green innovation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    11. Haidong Li & Ziming Qian & Shanyong Wang & Jing Wang & Qian Wang, 2023. "Do green concerns promote corporate green innovation? Evidence from Chinese stock exchange interactive platforms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1786-1801, April.
    12. Xue, Yi & Zhang, Xinzhi, 2024. "Digital transformation and corporate capital structure: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Gao, Yihong & Gao, Jiayan, 2023. "Low-carbon transformation and corporate cash holdings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    14. Xiaoxue Liu & Jingyun Zhou & You Wu & Na Hao, 2022. "The Influence of Party Organization Involvements in Corporate Governance on Innovation: Evidence from China’s Private-Owned Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-30, December.
    15. Li, Yulei & Hu, Shiyang & Zhang, Shu & Xue, Rui, 2023. "The Power of the Imperial Envoy: The Impact of Central Government Onsite Environmental Supervision Policy on Corporate Green Innovation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    16. Zhang, Xiangguo & Zhao, Weiyi & Xie, Danxia, 2024. "Environmental regulation, academic top managers and green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    17. Pan, An & Cao, Xuekang, 2024. "Pilot free trade zones and low-carbon innovation: Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    18. Zuo, Jingjing & Huang, Changqing & Qiu, Baoyin & Mai, Ruidong, 2023. "The construction of social credit system and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Wu, Qingyang, 2024. "Power play in carbon trading market: How status of executives with R&D background incentives companies’ low-carbon innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    20. Wei Jiang & Kui Wang & Kevin Zheng Zhou, 2023. "How Political Ties and Green Innovation Co-evolve in China: Alignment with Institutional Development and Environmental Pollution," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(4), pages 739-760, September.

    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:17:y:2024:i:1:p:161-:d:1555503. 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.