Lessons from failure: Pollution blacklisting and firm's green innovation

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of pollution blacklisting on firm green innovation (GI) by a unique information disclosure project from 782 Chinese listed firms in heavily polluting industries during 2015-2019. Our research found that pollution blacklisting establishes a poor environmental perception and puts firms under greater legitimacy pressure than their peers, forcing them to go beyond compliance through more substantial long-term solutions like GI to reestablish environmental legitimacy and win social support again. For firms with high levels of media coverage, the positive effect of pollution blacklisting on GI is strengthened, while for firms with bureaucratic political connections, the positive effect is weakened. The findings have important theoretical and practical implications for GI management and relevant information disclosure practice.

Non‐state shareholder governance and corporate sustainability: Evidence from environmental, social and governance ratings

“…For green innovation, according to the existing literature (Liu et al, 2023), we obtained the patent classification number information of all A‐shares state‐owned listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from CNRDS and matched it with the patent classification number in the Green Patent List published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). We take the natural logarithm of the number of green patent which applied by companies during the year plus one (G_innovation).…”

Intergenerational externalities and corporate green innovation

“…On the one hand, ecological damage claim policy stipulates that matters of public interest in ecological investigation, appraisal and assessment, and restoration plan preparation should be made public, which enables the public to further understand the great harm of corporate ecological damage behaviors. This means that some firms with great ecological hazards will face greater social condemnation, while long‐term, substantial, and preventive green innovation behaviors are more in line with social expectations and receive more support (Liu et al, 2022; Ren, Huang, et al, 2022). In this way, firms will be more motivated to choose green innovation behavior in advance to solve the pollution problem in a long‐term way.…”

“…A reasonable way to achieve sustainable development is green innovation, as it plays an important role in reducing environmental degradation caused by economic activities and preventing pollution (Berrone et al, 2013). Green innovation refers to the creation of new designs and processes in order to minimize the pollution impacts, and it have higher environmental advantages than other environmental practices (Berrone et al, 2013; Liu et al, 2022).…”

Green relational capital, integration capabilities and environmental innovation adoption: The moderating role of normative pressures

“…Environmental innovation involves the application of new products, processes, and management systems in order to reduce environmental damage over the entire product lifecycle, not simply the end‐of‐pipe treatment. Adoption of environmental innovations indicates that the firm is trying to meet or exceed the environmental standards set by government (Berrone et al, 2013; Liu et al, 2022). Although requiring substantial investment, firms are more inclined to absorb and integrate green knowledge and resources, given the potential for long‐term competitive advantage.…”