The Impact of Preferential Policy on Corporate Green Innovation: A Resource Dependence Perspective

Chenshuo Li, Shihan Feng, Qingyu Yuan, Jiahui Wei, Shiqi Wang and Dongdong Huang ()
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Chenshuo Li: School of Economics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Shihan Feng: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Qingyu Yuan: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Jiahui Wei: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Shiqi Wang: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Dongdong Huang: Business School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-24

Abstract: Government support has long been viewed as a key driver of sustainable transformation and green technological progress. However, the underlying mechanisms ( “how” ) through which preferential policies influence green innovation, as well as the contextual conditions ( “when” ) that shape their effectiveness, remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on resource dependence theory, this study develops a dual-mediation framework to investigate how preferential tax policies promote both the quantity and quality of green innovation—by enhancing R&D investment as an internal mechanism and alleviating financing constraints as an external mechanism. These effects are especially salient among non-state-owned enterprises, firms in resource-constrained industries, and those situated in environmentally challenged regions—contexts that entail higher dependence on external support for sustainable development. Leveraging China’s 2017 R&D tax reduction policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study uses a sample of high-tech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to test the hypotheses. The findings provide robust evidence on how preferential policies contribute to corporate sustainability through green innovation and identify the conditions under which policy tools are most effective. This research offers important implications for designing targeted, sustainability-oriented innovation policies that support SMEs in transitioning toward more sustainable practices.

Keywords: financing constraints; green innovation; industry resource munificence; preferential policies; pollution; R&D investment intensity; small- and medium-sized enterprises; state ownership; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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