IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v16y2025i4d10.1007_s13132-024-02542-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic Imperatives of ESG in Fostering Corporate Digital Innovation: a Resource-Based View

Author

Listed:
  • Xuetong Wang

    (Guangzhou University)

  • Ming Yuan

    (Guangzhou University)

  • Xuekun Suo

    (Ningbo University of Finance and Economics)

  • Mingchuan Yu

    (Ningbo University of Finance and Economics)

  • Penghao Huang

    (The University of Sydney)

  • Han Lin

    (Hohai University)

Abstract

Digital innovation has become a critical force in reshaping the global competitive landscape, driving corporations to adapt to an increasingly dynamic and strategically demanding environment. Given the growing importance of digital innovation, understanding how to enhance it is crucial for maintaining corporate competitiveness. Using empirical research based on data from Chinese firms (2010–2021) and grounded in a resource-based view, this study investigates the link between ESG practices and digital innovation. Findings reveal that (1) better ESG lays the foundation for better digital innovation; (2) proactive ESG engagement facilitates the mitigation of financing constraints, providing increased financial support for sustaining long-term corporate digital innovation; and (3) the richness of ESG equip corporations with a multidimensional approach to learning, augmenting their absorptive capacity and enabling them to maintain competitiveness in the digital innovation race. This research underscores the importance of non-financial resources, offering valuable theoretical insights for corporations and societal stakeholders aiming to effectively elevate digital innovation levels, and furnishes actionable information for managerial implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuetong Wang & Ming Yuan & Xuekun Suo & Mingchuan Yu & Penghao Huang & Han Lin, 2025. "Strategic Imperatives of ESG in Fostering Corporate Digital Innovation: a Resource-Based View," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(4), pages 15286-15315, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02542-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02542-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-02542-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-024-02542-3?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

    for a different version of it.

    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:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02542-3. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.