Research on Green Total Factor Productivity Enhancement Path from the Configurational Perspective—Based on the TOE Theoretical Framework

Shuying Wang, Yifei Gao () and Hongchang Zhou
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Shuying Wang: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Yifei Gao: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Hongchang Zhou: School of Information Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-20

Abstract: Increasing Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) is the strategy to overcome resource and environmental limitations and achieve green and sustainable regional economic development. This study introduces the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) theoretical framework and the Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method into the study of GTFP. We use the fsQCA method to empirically explore the linkage matching patterns of multiple conditions such as technology, organization, and environment in the TOE framework for influencing GTFP from a configurational perspective using 30 Chinese provinces and cities as case studies. This study provides new concepts and methodologies for GTFP-related research. The study’s findings indicate that: (1) There are two paths to generating high GTFP: the type of organizational management and the type of technical support. The two paths produce non-high GTFP, namely, a type of organizational management deficit and environmental support deficiency and a type of organizational management imbalance and technological support deficiency, respectively. This research verifies the existence of causal asymmetry in the GTFP phenomena. (2) In addition, there are substitutes between combinations of organizational conditions and technical conditions and between technical conditions and environmental conditions under specific circumstances. This discovery broadens the scope of how the TOE framework can be used to explain “causal complexity” and, in some ways, resolves the theoretical conundrum it now faces. (3) According to the sub-regional study, GTFP improvement tactics have substantial spatial distribution characteristics, with China’s eastern and central regions achieving them through organizational management and technical support strategies. Only the organizational management type is prevalent in the western region. This study is useful for the local planning of GTFP enhancement paths in each Chinese province to achieve a win–win situation between economic development and environmental conservation, as well as to provide empirical evidence for nations in a similar situation to China.

Keywords: fsQCA; configurational perspective; green total factor productivity; TOE theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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