Multinationality and the value of green innovation

Incheol Kim, Christos Pantzalis and Zhengyi Zhang

Journal of Corporate Finance, 2021, vol. 69, issue C

Abstract: When do multinational corporations (MNCs) derive the most from internalizing the transfer of proprietary technological knowhow? We revisit this question, which lies at the core of theories on multinationality and performance, from the perspective of corporate strategy involving a mix of green versus nongreen innovation effort and foreign operations focusing on countries with high versus low environmental standards. We find that high exposure to foreign markets with more stringent environmental regulations stimulates MNCs' green patent applications. Predictably, the pursuit of green innovation is positively associated with firm value in the long run. This long-run advantage produces higher economic rents when MNCs' home countries rely on more clean energy for power generation, have a more developed economy and have a more effective government. We further show that this long-run value enhancement effect is more pronounced in Mining & Oil and energy sectors (i.e., more polluting) than sales and service sectors (i.e., less polluting). In addition, MNCs' environmental competitive advantage obtained through green innovation activities is coupled with exposure to MNCs' host countries with high long-term and femininity orientations. Overall, our study highlights that green technology development is a main source of value creation for multinationals.

Keywords: Multinationality; Environmental regulations; Corporate environmental strategy; Green innovation; Firm value (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 Q32 Q51 Q55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:corfin:v:69:y:2021:i:c:s0929119921001176

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101996

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