Search

Green innovation is a pivotal means of achieving economic growth while mitigating environmental harm, and encouraging green innovation is a goal of policymakers. This paper systematically reviews the literature on the impact of diverse policy instruments on green innovation and corporate performance. We derive three main conclusions. (a) The majority of studies demonstrate that implementing policy instruments (including demand-pull policies, technology-push policies, and soft and systemic instruments) positively promotes the growth of green patents. (b) The development of green innovation involves passive diffusion, influenced by domestic policy interventions, international spillovers, and inter-firm knowledge flow. (c) The impact of environmental regulation and green innovation on firm performance is intricate, with the mediating role of green innovation remaining ambiguous. Finally, the paper concludes by highlighting potential new research directions in green innovation. • Policy instruments positively promote green innovation across various policy types. • Green innovation is influenced by both domestic and foreign policies. • The nexus among environmental regulation, green innovation, and firm performance is complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the development of green innovation is crucial for achieving the green transformation of society. This paper considers the decision bias of different agents in policy implementation and presents a theoretical model that captures the structure of the green innovation system. The model includes six subsystems: government, technology, public, energy, environment, and population. The study examines the transmission effect of green innovation and the influence mechanism of multiple decision biases on policy combination effects using a combination of various policy tools. The results show that: Various policy tools and their implementation differences have distinct effects on the green innovation and environmental performance. In most cases, the synergistic policy mix effect, surpassing the impact of individual policies, is driven by the resource effect. However, the synergistic effect of policy combination may not be fully realized, leading to potential conflicts. Due to various decision biases, particularly the gap in the public's green behavior, the policy mix faces challenges in achieving immediate synergistic effects. Combining tax policies with other policy instruments increases the risk of incoherence and inconsistency. However, in the long term, the combination of policy tools can exert strong late-developing advantages. This study provides insights for green innovation policy improvement. • This paper develops a green innovation system with the government subsystem serving as the operational hub. • This paper establishes a policy framework for green innovation systems based on multi-subject decision bias. • This paper simulates the impact of policy implementation on green innovation and main pollutant emissions. • The study finds that tax policy has a more significant dampening effect when combined with other policies. • This study finds that policy mix can exert resource effects, but decision biases cause a delayed manifestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines what drives green innovation investment and exploitation with regard to sustainability. The specific focus of this paper is on company valuations of different dimensions of sustainability and their relationships to green innovation. Empirical data were gathered from a cross-section of horse industry companies located in Finland. The scientific value of the paper lies in showing that certain dimensions of sustainability lead to the exploitation of and investment in green innovation, while other dimensions do not. The results of this study's regression analyses show that the more a company values economic, institutional, and social sustainability, the more likely it is to invest in green innovation. Further, a high valuation of institutional and economic sustainability increases the willingness to exploit green innovation. The valuation of environmental sustainability was not found to affect the willingness to invest in or exploit green innovation. Our results suggest that green innovation is driven by economic and institutional pressures, and that such innovation can create value in terms of social sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green finance is a financial innovation that directs capital allocation towards green industries. How will this affect regional carbon emissions? Based on the data on green finance and carbon emissions of 30 provinces in China from 2008 to 2019, this paper employs a multivariate linear regression model and a spatial econometric model to empirically study the impact of green finance on carbon emissions. The results find that (1) green finance significantly reduces provincial carbon emissions, specifically through promoting a cleaner energy structure and an advanced industrial structure, as well as improving the quality of green innovation. (2) Heterogeneity exists between regions. In eastern regions and areas characterized by high levels of marketization and minimal fiscal pressure, the role of green finance in promoting provincial carbon emission reduction is more pronounced. (3) Spatial econometric analysis found that green finance has a significant spatial spillover effect on carbon reduction in adjacent regions. Specifically, the flow of green resources and green ideas between provinces facilitates the formation of regional radiation, while green competition generates a siphon effect on neighboring regions. These findings provide some meaningful policy implications to achieve China's dual-carbon goal by promoting green finance. • Green finance has significantly reduced China's provincial carbon emissions. • The upgrading of energy structure and industrial structure is a positive channel to reduce carbon emissions. • Green innovation strengthens the carbon reduction effect of green finance, but reveals the potential "greenwashing". • Green finance has a significant spatial spillover effect on carbon reduction in adjacent regions. • Policymakers should develop flexible, dynamic and coordinated green finance development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, green innovation has become an important means of achieving sustainable development, but the impact of peer firms on green innovation is less discussed. To fill this research gap, this paper explores the effect of peer firms on the green innovation activities of the Chinese A-share listed firms in the manufacturing industry from 2011 to 2020 and investigates influencing factors of peer effect. The main findings are as follows. First, there is a peer effect in making green innovation decisions. Second, industry competition has a positive moderating effect on the peer effect of green innovation. Third, digital financial inclusion and government intervention both promote the peer effect of green innovation. The peer effect is more significant with a high degree of digital financial inclusion. But the peer effect has no significant difference between different degrees of government intervention. This paper aims to explore the influencing factors of a firm's green innovation from the perspective of peer effect. The research results can provide a guide for the government to better promote green innovation activities of firms and benign competition in the industry. • A firm's green innovation activities are positively affected by industry peers. • Industry competition has a positive moderating effect on green innovation peer effect. • Digital financial inclusion and government intervention both promote the peer effect. • The peer effect is more significant with a high degree of digital financial inclusion. • The peer effect has no significant difference between different degrees of government intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, green innovation has become an important means of achieving sustainable development, but the impact of peer firms on green innovation is less discussed. To fill this research gap, this paper explores the effect of peer firms on the green innovation activities of the Chinese A-share listed firms in the manufacturing industry from 2011 to 2020 and investigates influencing factors of peer effect. The main findings are as follows. First, there is a peer effect in making green innovation decisions. Second, industry competition has a positive moderating effect on the peer effect of green innovation. Third, digital financial inclusion and government intervention both promote the peer effect of green innovation. The peer effect is more significant with a high degree of digital financial inclusion. But the peer effect has no significant difference between different degrees of government intervention. This paper aims to explore the influencing factors of a firm's green innovation from the perspective of peer effect. The research results can provide a guide for the government to better promote green innovation activities of firms and benign competition in the industry. • A firm's green innovation activities are positively affected by industry peers. • Industry competition has a positive moderating effect on green innovation peer effect. • Digital financial inclusion and government intervention both promote the peer effect. • The peer effect is more significant with a high degree of digital financial inclusion. • The peer effect has no significant difference between different degrees of government intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fish processing industry is currently shifting from being heavily manual labor-based into automation of most of the operations along the processing line. This paper reports on a case study of fish processing equipment-producing companies and seeks to investigate how green innovation can be integrated within the activities of the companies to secure sustainable fish processing in the future. Although the companies studied were all found to be involved with innovation, none of them were working with green innovations. This paper suggests that smaller companies (such as small and medium sized enterprises) that supply to larger companies may lack feedback on environmental requirements of their products due to the perceived relative size of the contribution of their product to the overall environmental footprint of the end product of the consumer. Better and tougher environmental requirements on fish processing equipment from governmental agencies, as well as long term commitment between producer and end customers may be an effective way of sparking green innovation initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the goal of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" in China, it is significant to explore whether green finance contributes to carbon emission reduction. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of green finance on carbon emissions and its mechanism using the FE model, GMM model, DID, and the mediating effect model. Results find that green finance can significantly promote carbon emissions reduction, and this promotion remains still after robustness tests. The heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance's carbon emission reduction effect is more significant in developed and western regions. Moreover, the results of policy intervention effects confirm that green finance reform and innovation pilot zones (GFRIs) for carbon emission reduction are more pronounced than in other regions. Finally, the mediating effects reveal that industrial structure and green innovation are the core transmission channels through which green finance influences carbon emission reduction. These findings offer meaningful implications for formulating reasonable carbon emission reduction plans and determining the future development direction of green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of green innovation on achieving sustainable development is increasingly recognized in recent years. This paper explores whether and how external institutional pressure (including coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure, though the last was not discussed in depth) promote green innovation and investigates the moderating effect of internal organizational slack by combining institutional theory and resource-based view. With the sample of China's top 100 listed companies from 2008 to 2014 and generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach, the findings supports the Porter Hypothesis that both coercive pressure and normative pressure have significant positive effects on corporate green innovation. Organizational slack positively moderates the relationship between coercive pressure and green innovation, but has no significant impact on the relationship between normative pressure and green innovation. Accordingly, the scientific value of this research is that it extends the debates on Porter Hypothesis and the role of organizational slacks. The results suggest that the government should strengthen the implementation of coercive tools, the media should play roles of “muckraking”, “catalyst” and the “vanguard” of public inquiry to insert normative pressure, and firms should rationally allocate slacks to improve green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of green finance on green innovation, focusing on their spatial and non-linear relationships. Using panel data of 30 provinces of China during the period of 2009–2017, a green finance index is constructed, and the spatial Durbin model and panel threshold model are used. The results reveal that: (1) Green finance and green innovation had significant positive autocorrelation, and the development of green finance in provinces of central and western China were still in the lower-level range. (2) The coefficients of the direct effect and indirect effect of green finance on green innovation were significantly positive, which indicated that green finance was conducive to enhancing green innovation in local and adjacent provinces during the research period. (3) Double threshold effects of green finance on green innovation were observed, which demonstrated that the driving effect of green finance was decreased with the raising of intensity of environmental regulation. The implication of these results is that government should make full use of the radiation and trickle-down functions of green finance and green innovation to narrow regional gaps in sustainable development while maintaining a moderate intensity of environmental regulation. • A green finance index of 30 provinces of China during the period of 2009 to 2017 was constructed on the basis of green credit, green securities, green insurance, and green investment. • The heterogeneity of region and time for green finance were analyzed employing the spatial exploratory analysis, which manifested that the spatial evolution of green finance in China presents a gradient decreasing pattern from east to west. • The impact of green finance on green innovation was explored by the spatial Durbin model, which proved that the direct effect and the spatial spillover effect were significantly positive. • Moderate intensity of environmental regulation helps green finance promote green innovation and this value should not exceed a maximum of 0.935. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has incorporated green technology innovation into its national development strategy based on its national conditions and development needs. The emission permit system is a typical environmental regulation, and one of the driving forces of green technology innovation. Research into the pollution discharge permits system is a key for improving environmental regulations. This study seeks to investigate the impact of pollution permits system on green innovation in China. Using econometric methods, we constructed and tested the model of green technology innovation incentives based on the emission permits system, and applied it to several Chinese counties and districts. The results revealed shortcomings in implementation of the emission permits system in various counties and districts. From a governmental perspective, this was due to poor standardization of management processes and insufficiently innovative supervisory methods. On the corporate side, problems included poor auditing of law enforcement plans, poor implementation of the ledger system, and a lack of disclosure of pollution data. We propose comprehensive strategies to address these issues. This paper explores the emission reduction potential of the pollution discharge permits system at the county level, in accordance with the Porter hypothesis, and provides reference data for the formulation and optimization of energy conservation and emission reduction policies. This will promote green development of the chemical and other industries, and green technology innovation in China. • We explore the pollution discharge permits system at the county level. • We construct a model of the impact of pollution discharge permits system. • We put forward some strategies for promoting green technology innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]