How Does Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Technological Innovation? The Role of Green Entrepreneurial Orientation and Green Intellectual Capital

This study aims to investigate the effects of environmental corporate social responsibility on the two dimensions of firms’ technological innovation: process innovation and product innovation. This study also investigates whether such an impact depends on green intellectual capital and green entrepreneurial orientation. Relying on dynamic capability theory and resource dependence theory, we hypothesize the mediating role of green entrepreneurial orientation and the moderating role of green intellectual capital in the indirect relationships between environmental corporate social responsibility and process and product innovations. Based on a sample of 241 Chinese firms, the results reveal that environmental corporate social responsibility positively affects process and product innovations, and that these relationships are mediated by green entrepreneurial orientation. Additionally, green intellectual capital positively moderates the mediating effects of green entrepreneurial orientation. The findings provide a better theoretical understanding of the role of environmental corporate social responsibility in the technological innovation domain by indicating that environmental corporate social responsibility can promote process and product innovations through green entrepreneurial orientation. Theoretically, the findings also shed new light on the boundaries of environmental corporate social responsibility from the perspective of intellectual capital. Additionally, the findings provide important practical implications for managing firms’ environmental behaviors to promote green entrepreneurial orientation and foster technological innovation to gain sustainable competitive advantage.