Managerial Ability and Corporate Green Innovation
Evidence From China's Listed Firms and Implications for Sustainable Development
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12307003 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yixue Hao (0000-0001-7296-2522, School of Management Xihua University Chengdu Sichuan China), Elizabeth Stephen (0009-0008-8952-1131, College of Business University of Central Florida Orlando Florida USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sustainable Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0968-0802 • E-ISSN: 1099-1719 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/sd.70919 |
| OpenAlex | W7134957760 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 52 |
Corporate green innovation is essential for achieving sustainable development and reconciling economic growth with environmental protection. However, existing research largely emphasizes macro‐level institutional drivers and firm‐level structural characteristics, while overlooking the micro‐level role of managerial capability. This study investigates how managerial ability influences corporate green innovation using panel data from 19,556 firm‐year observations of Chinese A‐share listed firms during 2007–2022. Drawing on Upper Echelons Theory, the Resource‐Based View, and Agency Theory, we develop competing hypotheses regarding the dual effects of managerial ability. Empirical results show that managerial ability significantly promotes corporate green innovation. Mechanism analysis reveals that this relationship operates through agency cost reduction, indicating that capable managers enhance sustainable innovation by improving internal governance efficiency. Furthermore, governance conditions shape this effect: controlling shareholder supervision and equity incentives strengthen the positive impact of managerial ability, whereas media attention weakens it, suggesting a substitutive monitoring role. Robustness tests using entropy balancing, propensity score matching, instrumental variable estimation, and alternative specifications confirm the stability of the findings. By identifying managerial ability as a micro‐foundational driver of green innovation, this study extends the sustainability and corporate governance literature and provides practical insights for promoting innovation aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Agency (philosophy · Corporate governance · Corporate sustainability · Green innovation · Incentive · Panel data · Shareholder · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting · Energy, Environment, Economic Growth · Environmental Sustainability in Business
Demand for green finance
The impacts of government R&D subsidies on green innovation
Can the green credit policy stimulate green innovation in heavily polluting enterprises? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China
Effects of greenwashing on financial performance
Heterogeneous impacts of environmental regulations and foreign direct investment on green innovation across different regions in China
The Multiplicity of Institutional Logics and the Heterogeneity of Organizational Responses
Who is financing corporate green innovation?
Upper Echelons
Theory of the firm
Senior management's academic experience and corporate green innovation
Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability
Redefining innovation — eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics
The Market for Reputations as an Incentive Mechanism
Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects
The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
| Highly cited | No |
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