Digital Capability, Organizational Inertia, and the Micro-Level Resource Curse: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Resource dependence pressure helps explain why some manufacturing firms remain tied to resource-based business paths even when green transformation is needed. Existing resource curse studies have mainly examined countries, regions, and resource-based cities, while less is known about how resource dependence works inside firms. We examine whether resource dependence pressure is associated with green innovation performance among Chinese manufacturing firms. Resource dependence pressure is defined as firm-level pressure arising from resource-linked customers and markets, resource-oriented suppliers and production chains, local policy/project opportunities, and inherited operating routines. Drawing on resource dependence theory, organizational inertia theory, and the digital dynamic capability perspective, we propose that organizational inertia mediates the relationship between resource dependence pressure and green innovation performance, while digital capability weakens the association between resource dependence pressure and organizational inertia. Survey data from 504 Chinese manufacturing firms are analyzed using PLS-SEM, with multi-group analysis comparing firms in resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities. The results show that resource dependence pressure is negatively associated with green innovation performance and positively associated with organizational inertia. Organizational inertia mediates this relationship. Digital capability weakens the resource dependence pressure-organizational inertia relationship, and this moderating pattern is stronger among firms in resource-based cities. The study extends resource curse research to the firm level and shows how digital capability is linked to weaker resource-induced organizational lock-in.