The Social Origins and Practice in Corporate Environmental Innovation: Insights from Private Enterprises in China

• In Event: 30883 - The Politics of Climate and Environmental Policy

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of entrepreneurs’ social origins on corporate environmental innovation (CEI) in China’s private sector. Utilizing data from the 2016 China Private Enterprise Survey (CPES), this research explores how social origin typologies—grassroots, market-driven, and endogenous—affect the likelihood of enterprises engaging in environmental innovation. Building on efficiency, social network, and impression management theories, we examine how the resources and networks accessible to entrepreneurs and corporates’ impression management mediate their engagement in CEI. Our findings reveal that entrepreneurs with market-driven origins are most likely to engage in CEI, followed by those with endogenous origins, while grassroots-origin entrepreneurs show the lowest likelihood of engaging in such innovations. In addition, the mediation analysis revealed that network embedding is the reason for the difference in CEI between grassroots and elite (market-driven and endogenous) entrepreneurs, while impression management explains the difference between market-driven and endogenous entrepreneurs. Based on this, we conclude that because market-driven entrepreneurs are influenced by both network embedding and impression management, their companies are the most likely to engage in environmental innovation. The study highlights the critical role of social networks in facilitating environmental innovation, as well as the importance of impression management for firms with lower reputational capital.

Authors

• Maoxin Ye, Southeast University

• Xiaoguang Fan