Executives’ green cognition and corporate green innovation: evidence from China

Abstract

Based on the cognitive and upper echelons theories, this study investigated the impact of executives’ green cognition on corporate green innovation using panel data on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2021. The findings revealed that companies with executives who possess green cognition demonstrated a minimum increase of 12.5% in green innovation compared with companies without such cognition. The mechanism analysis suggested that executives’ green cognition promotes green innovation by alleviating managerial myopia and attracting green investors. The heterogeneous effects analysis indicated that a positive effect is predominantly observed among non-heavy-polluting industries and regions with a lower intensity of environmental regulations. This study identified the positive role of executives’ green psychological cognition, thereby providing insights into incorporating psychological cognitive factors in executive selection to enhance the level of corporate green innovation and promote the construction of corporate quality management.

Keywords:

• executives
• green cognition
• cognitive theory
• managerial myopia
• green innovation
• quality management

Acknowledgements:

The authors thank the Editors and referees for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed http://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2024.2352577.

Notes

1 www.cnrds.com

2 data.csmar.com

3 Keywords: energy conservation and emission reduction, environmental protection strategies, environmental protection concepts, environmental management institutions, environmental protection education, environmental protection training, environmental technology development, environmental audits, energy conservation and environmental protection, environmental protection policies, environmental protection departments, environmental protection supervision, low-carbon environmental protection, environmental protection work, environmental protection governance, environmental protection and environmental governance, environmental protection facilities, environmental protection-related laws and regulations, environmental protection and pollution control.

4 Special treatment (ST), a unique mechanism of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), is used to warn current and potential investors in the stock market that listed firms are operating under an abnormal situation. Normally, there are two conditions labeled ST: one is a net loss occurring in two consecutive two years, and the other is that net asset value per share (NAVPS) is lower than the par value.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China: [Grant Number 20YJA790004]; National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number 72073019].