The dual externality of green innovation mean that most firms engage in green innovation passively under stakeholder pressure. Even state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with a strong sense of social responsibility are less likely to actively carry out green innovation due to the strong administrative governance orientation. Although existing literature has emphasized that private shareholders are important stakeholders in promoting SOEs’ green innovation, most studies focus on the governance optimization effect brought by the shareholding of private shareholders. However, as corporate governance is gradually shifting from an equity-ratio-based logic to a shareholder-resource-based logic, the “green” governance capabilities, knowledge, and other resources that private shareholders possess have become an indispensable factor in promoting SOEs’ green innovation.
This paper takes as its sample Chinese A-share state-owned listed companies whose top ten shareholders include private shareholders during the period 2013-2023. Using the green patent data of private shareholders and the industries they are in, the paper measures the green innovation pressure of private shareholders and examines its impact on SOEs’ green innovation behavior and the underlying mechanisms. The findings are as follows: (1) The green innovation pressure of private shareholders has a significant positive impact on SOEs’ substantive green innovation, but no significant impact on strategic green innovation. (2) Mechanism tests show that private shareholders facing greater green innovation pressure promote SOEs’ substantive green innovation through green governance optimization and green knowledge spillovers. (3) Further analysis indicates that the excessive appointment of directors by private shareholders and the green investment level of SOEs contribute to strengthening the influence of private shareholders’ green innovation pressure on SOEs’ substantive green innovation. (4) Furthermore, in regions with stronger environmental regulations or in non-heavily polluting industries, the promotion effect of private shareholders’ green innovation pressure on SOEs’ substantive green innovation is more obvious.
Compared with previous studies, this paper makes three main contributions. (1) From the perspective of shareholder resources, this paper defines the green innovation pressure of private shareholders, which helps to enrich the research starting point and path of SOEs’ reform, and breaks through the traditional governance framework centered on the equity ratio. It provides a theoretical basis for SOEs to identify private shareholders whose resources are compatible with green innovation goals. (2) This paper explores the impact of private shareholders’ green innovation pressure on the green innovation of SOEs and discovers two mechanisms: green governance optimization and green knowledge spillover. This not only expands research on the determinants of green innovation, but also deepens understanding of green innovation’s dependence on resources such as “green”governance capabilities and knowledge. (3) From the perspectives of SOEs’ control rights incentives and resource accumulation, this paper respectively explores the moderating effects of private shareholders’ excessive appointment of directors and the level of green investment of SOEs. This helps to incorporate the “reform” dimension of board governance and the “integration” dimension of strategic resources into the same research framework, providing empirical evidence for SOEs to build an internal environment for green innovation incentives.
From the perspective of shareholder resources, this paper verifies the significant role of the green innovation attributes of private shareholders in empowering the green innovation of SOEs. This provides a feasible solution for promoting SOEs to achieve a win-win outcome between environmental protection and economic efficiency.
WANGX, CHUX. Research on the peer group effect of green technology innovation in manufacturing enterprises:reference function based on multi-level situation[J].Nankai Business Review,2022,25(2):68-81.
XUX P, ZHANGS C, XUQ. On the difference of innovation between state-owned enterprises and private-owned enterprises under the market competition[J]. Finance & Trade Economics,2017,38(2):141-155.
XUD D, LIX L, WANGJ. Can the governance of non-state-owned shareholders promote the green technological innovation of state-owned enterprises: empirical research based on mixed-ownership reform[J]. Management Review,2023,35(9):102-115.
ZHANGH L, SHENQ Y. Mixed ownership reform promotes the green innovation of SOEs: empirical evidence from listed SOE data[J]. Chinese Review of Financial Studies,2024,16(3):131-154.
LUY, CUIY W. Effectiveness evaluation of SOEs’ introducing technology strategic investors in mixed-ownership reform: based on the perspective of corporate innovation[J]. Nankai Business Review,2025,28(5):101-113.
HAOY, GONGL T. State and private non-controlling shareholders in SOEs and private firms, and firm performance[J]. Economic Research Journal,2017,52(3):122-135.
MAX X, TANGT J. Non-state shareholders’ governance, and high-quality innovation of state-owned enterprises:a re-examination based on the perspective of government administrative efficiency[J]. Modern Economic Science,2024,46(2):132-144.
[19]
WIESMETHH. Stakeholder engagement for environmental innovations[J]. Journal of Business Research,2020,119:310-320.
HANY, CHENW, ZHANGY, et al. Research on market driving mechanism of green innovation by common institutional investors: based on industry coordinating network of green governance[J]. Management Review,2024,36(8):133-145.
JIANGG S, LUJ C, LIW A. Do green investors play a role?Empirical research on firms’ participation in green governance[J]. Journal of Financial Research,2021,64(5):117-134.
LINY, LIM H, ZHANGZ N. A study on the effect and mechanism of the strategic investors on enterprises’ green technology innovation[J]. Science Research Management,2024,45(7):79-89.
WANGB, SONGC X. Shareholders’ resources and corporate governance: a new lens[J]. Finance Research,2015,1(1):88-96.
[30]
DARNALLN, EDWARDSD. Predicting the cost of environmental management system adoption: the role of capabilities, resources and ownership structure[J]. Strategic Management Journal,2006,27(4):301-320.
LIW J, ZHENGM N. Is it substantive innovation or strategic innovation: impact of macroeconomic policies on micro-enterprises’ innovation[J]. Economic Research Journal,2016,51(4):60-73.
LIUY, YINY L, YANGX. Quantity or quality: the impact of environmental information disclosure on green innovation[J]. Science Research Management,2024,45(4):166-174.
WANGM B, YET, KONGD M. Green manufacturing and corporate environmental information disclosure: evidence from the policy experiment of “creation of green factories” in China[J]. Economic Research Journal,2024,59(2):116-134.
[39]
RENNINGSK. Redefining innovation-eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics[J]. Ecological Economics,2000,32(2):319-332.
FENGH Q, GUON. Do directors excessively appointed by non-state-owned shareholders improve the accounting information quality: evidence from state-owned enterprise mixed reform[J]. Accounting Research,2021,42(5):15-31.
LIM M, LIB X, HUIX. The formation mechanism of symbiotic relationship among resources heterogeneous shareholders in mixed ownership enterprises: taking China Unicom’s mixed-reform plan as an example[J]. Economist, 2019,31(6):70-79.
WANGY T, WANGS, DUANM R. The peer effect of green investment activities of China’s listed firms[J]. Systems Engineering-Theory & Practice,2024,44(3):874-892.
[46]
POTERM E, VAN DER LINDEC. Toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship[J]. Journal of Economic Perspectives,1995,9(4):97-118.
ZHANGQ, ZHENGY, KONGD M. Local environmental governance pressure, executive’s working experience and enterprise investment in environmental protection: a quasi-natural experiment based on China’s “Ambient Air Quality Standards 2012”[J]. Economic Research Journal,2019,54(6):183-198.
LIQ Y, XIAOZ H. Heterogeneous environmental regulation tools and green innovation incentives: evidence from green patents of listed companies[J]. Economic Research Journal,2020,55(9):192-208.
[51]
AMBECS, BARLAP. A theoretical foundation of the Porter hypothesis[J]. Economics Letters,2002,75(3):355-360.
PANA L, LIUX, QIUJ L, et al. Can green M&A of heavy polluting enterprises achieve substantial transformation under the pressure of media[J]. China Industrial Economics,2019,37(2):174-192.