The Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Green Innovation: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Public Opinion
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Analysis and Hypothesis
2.1. Political Connection and Corporate Green Innovation
2.2. Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility
2.3. Moderating Effect of Environmental Public Opinion Pressure
3. Data and Method
3.1. Sample Selection and Data Sources
3.2. Variable Definitions
3.3. Model
4. Empirical Results
4.1. Descriptive Statistics
4.2. Benchmark Regression Test
4.3. Mediating Effect Test
4.4. Moderating Effect Test
5. Robustness Test
5.1. Multicollinearity Test
5.2. Main Effect Robustness Test
5.3. Endogeneity Test of Mediating Effect
5.4. Heterogeneity Test of Moderating Effect
6. Conclusions and Discussion
6.1. Research Conclusions
6.2. Theoretical Contribution
6.3. Practical Enlightenment
6.4. Research Limitations and Prospects
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable Types | Symbol | Variable | Definition (Measurement Method) |
---|---|---|---|
Explained variable | GI | Green innovation | Ln (the number of green patent applications + 1). |
Core explanatory variable | PC | Political connection | Corporate executives have worked as a deputy of the National People’s Congress, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, or in government departments, and have received commendations or honors from government organizations at or above the provincial level. If any of the above conditions are met, the corporation is assigned a value of 1; otherwise, it is assigned a value of 0. |
Mediating variables | CSR | Corporate social responsibility | Runling Global Corporate Social Responsibility Score. |
Moderating variables | EPO | Environmental public opinion | Ln (the number of newspapers reports + 1). |
Control variables | SIZE | Company size | Ln (total assets). |
EPS | Profitability | Earnings per share = net profit/total equity. | |
LEV | Financial leverage | Asset–liability ratio = total liabilities/total assets. | |
RD input | R&D investment intensity | RD input = Enterprise R&D expenditure/operating income. | |
STATE | Ownership property | State-owned enterprises are assigned a value of 1, otherwise 0. | |
LISTGE | Listing age | Number of years of being a listed company. | |
Dummy variables | YEAR | Year | Fixed year effect. |
INDUSTRY | Industry | Fixed industry effect. |
Variable | No. | Mean | Min | Max | Std. Dev |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GI | 408 | 1.68 | 0.00 | 4.85 | 1.38 |
PC | 408 | 0.77 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.42 |
CSR | 408 | 38.82 | 15.12 | 82.65 | 14.13 |
EPO | 408 | 3.19 | 0.00 | 6.21 | 1.93 |
SIZE | 408 | 24.29 | 20.48 | 27.70 | 1.49 |
EPS | 408 | 0.57 | −0.48 | 2.45 | 0.45 |
LEV | 408 | 72.12 | 18.22 | 93.06 | 12.99 |
RD input | 408 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 0.08 | 0.03 |
STATE | 408 | 0.51 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.50 |
LISTGE | 408 | 12.97 | 0.00 | 24.00 | 5.33 |
Variable | GI ① |
---|---|
C | −3.823 *** (−3.603) |
PC | 0.182 *** (4.830) |
SIZE | 0.220 *** (4.035) |
EPS | 0.053 (1.285) |
LEV | −0.117 * (−2.600) |
RD input | 0.467 *** (11.635) |
STATE | 0.124 ** (3.164) |
LISTGE | 0.003 (0.086) |
YEAR | control |
INDUSTRY | control |
F | 50.288 |
R2 | 0.468 |
N | 408 |
Variable | ② | ③ |
---|---|---|
CSR | GI | |
C | −71.809 *** (−7.254) | −2.227 * (−2.013) |
PC | 0.082 * (2.400) | 0.158 *** (4.160) |
CSR | 0.300 *** (5.664) | |
SIZE | 0.510 *** (10.277) | 0.146 * (2.478) |
EPS | 0.081 * (2.175) | 0.046 (1.150) |
LEV | −0.208 *** (−5.044) | −0.036 (−0.810) |
RD input | 0.221 *** (6.033) | 0.430 *** (10.624) |
STATE | 0.258 *** (7.210) | 0.023 (0.565) |
LISTGE | −0.054 (−1.554) | 0.060 (1.642) |
YEAR | control | control |
INDUSTRY | control | control |
F | 71.881 | 50.997 |
R2 | 0.557 | 0.506 |
N | 408 | 408 |
Variable | ④ | ⑤ |
---|---|---|
GI | GI | |
C | −3.823 *** (−3.603) | −3.474 ** (−3.214) |
PC | 0.182 *** (4.830) | 0.469 ** (3.129) |
EPO | 0.151 * (1.81) | |
PC×EPO | 0.766 *** (4.279) | |
SIZE | 0.220 *** (4.035) | 0.180 ** (3.451) |
EPS | 0.053 (1.285) | 0.050 (1.272) |
LEV | −0.117 * (−2.600) | −0.099 * (−2.305) |
RD input | 0.467 *** (11.635) | 0.094 (1.315) |
STATE | 0.124 ** (3.164) | 0.105 ** (2.787) |
LISTGE | 0.003 (0.086) | 0.002 (0.042) |
YEAR | control | control |
INDUSTRY | control | control |
F | 50.288 | 47.950 |
R2 | 0.468 | 0.520 |
N | 408 | 408 |
Variable | Tolerance | VIF |
---|---|---|
PC | 0.907 | 1.102 |
CSR | 0.442 | 2.264 |
EPO | 0.248 | 4.028 |
SIZE | 0.354 | 2.825 |
EPS | 0.781 | 1.280 |
LEV | 0.612 | 1.635 |
RD input | 0.251 | 3.995 |
STATE | 0.763 | 1.311 |
LISTGE | 0.912 | 1.096 |
Variable | ⑥ | ⑦ |
---|---|---|
GI | GI | |
C | −2.635 * (−2.502) | −107.749 *** (−5.320) |
PC | 0.254 ** (6.390) | 0.183 *** (4.590) |
SIZE | 0.168 ** (3.103) | 0.259 *** (4.776) |
EPS | 0.056 (1.398) | 0.019 (0.466) |
LEV | −0.113 * (−2.554) | −0.097 * (−2.197) |
RD input | 0.451 *** (11.416) | 0.473 *** (11.971) |
STATE | 0.113 ** (2.931) | 0.092 * (2.387) |
LISTGE | 0.030 (0.808) | 0.068 (1.810) |
YEAR | control | control |
INDUSTRY | control | control |
F | 54.729 | 54.243 |
R2 | 0.489 | 0.487 |
N | 408 | 408 |
Variable | ⑧ | ⑨ |
---|---|---|
CSR | GI | |
C | −63.631 *** (−6.461) | −2.238 * (−2.024) |
GI | 0.203 *** (4.657) | |
PC | 0.163 *** (4.394) | |
CSR | 0.226 *** (4.205) | |
SIZE | 0.468 *** (9.427) | 0.104 (1.741) |
EPS | 0.071 (1.919) | 0.034 (0.849) |
LEV | −0.182 *** (−4.476) | −0.071 (−1.545) |
RD input | 0.136 ** (3.269) | 0.417 *** (10.155) |
STATE | 0.233 *** (6.554) | 0.066 (1.612) |
LISTGE | −0.053 (−1.558) | 0.009 (0.239) |
YEAR | control | control |
INDUSTRY | control | control |
F | 76.946 | 48.047 |
R2 | 0.574 | 0.491 |
N | 408 | 408 |
Variable | Equity Heterogeneity | Regional Heterogeneity | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
⑩ | ⑪ | ⑫ | ⑬ | |
State-Owned Enterprises | Non-State-Owned Enterprises | Eastern Region | Central and Western Regions | |
C | −3.563 * (−2.262) | −2.174 (−1.262) | −5.889 ** (−3.245) | −13.181 (−1.050) |
PC | 0.106 (0.493) | 0.796 ** (3.362) | 0.859 *** (3.726) | 0.648 ** (2.629) |
EPO | 0.185 (1.457) | 0.233 * (1.962) | 0.420 ** (3.182) | 0.087 (0.685) |
PC × EPO | 0.275 * (2.218) | 1.158 *** (4.454) | 1.143 *** (3.725) | 0.898 ** (3.410) |
SIZE | 0.165 * (2.291) | 0.106 (1.129) | 0.186 ** (2.683) | 0.119 (1.325) |
EPS | 0.055 (0.993) | 0.089 (1.400) | 0.039 (0.694) | 0.010 (0.146) |
LEV | −0.043 (−0.747) | −0.107 (−1.332) | −0.061 (−1.050) | −0.065 (−0.776) |
RD input | 0.361 ** (3.475) | 0.168 (1.607) | 0.239 * (2.049) | 0.200 (1.916) |
STATE | — | — | 0.047 (0.868) | 0.161 ** (2.680) |
LISTGE | 0.025 (0.475) | 0.031 (0.553) | 0.029 (0.547) | 0.034 (0.571) |
YEAR | control | control | control | control |
INDUSTRY | control | control | control | control |
F | 31.784 | 14.776 | 29.831 | 7.690 |
R2 | 0.562 | 0.381 | 0.612 | 0.241 |
N | 207 | 201 | 244 | 164 |
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Wang, B.; Peng, C.; Wu, J.; Liao, F. The Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Green Innovation: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Public Opinion. Sustainability 2022, 14, 4708. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084708
Wang B, Peng C, Wu J, Liao F. The Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Green Innovation: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Public Opinion. Sustainability. 2022; 14(8):4708. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084708
Chicago/Turabian StyleWang, Bo, Cheng Peng, Jiujiang Wu, and Fangwei Liao. 2022. "The Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Green Innovation: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Public Opinion" Sustainability 14, no. 8: 4708. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084708
APA StyleWang, B., Peng, C., Wu, J., & Liao, F. (2022). The Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Green Innovation: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Public Opinion. Sustainability, 14(8), 4708. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084708