Greening Through Recognition: Unveiling the Mechanisms of China’s High-Tech Enterprise Identification Policy on Sustainable Innovation

Daleng Xin, Wenying Liu, Zhonghe Wang and Kehui Wang ()
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Daleng Xin: School of Economics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Wenying Liu: School of Economics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China
Zhonghe Wang: School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Kehui Wang: School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-22

Abstract: This study examines whether China’s high-tech enterprise identification policy promotes corporate sustainable innovation. Using panel data from Chinese listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 2008 and 2022, we adopt a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model to evaluate the policy’s effectiveness and explore its underlying mechanisms. The results reveal that this certification policy significantly facilitates green innovation, and the findings remain robust across various checks, including alternative measurements, placebo tests, propensity score matching DID (PSM-DID), and the exclusion of digital transformation trend and confounding macro-level policies. Mechanism analysis shows that the policy influences green innovation by alleviating financing constraints, increasing access to government subsidies, facilitating the agglomeration of scientific and technological talent, and encouraging greater R&D investment. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that the policy effect is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises, small-scale firms, capital-intensive businesses, those located in high-institutional-quality regions, and firms in China’s eastern provinces. Moreover, the positive impact is strongest for growth-stage firms. The policy has also been found to improve green innovation efficiency. These findings offer empirical insights for optimizing selective industrial policies to enhance sustainable innovation and support China’s dual-carbon goals.

Keywords: high-tech enterprise identification policy; sustainable innovation; financing constraints; government subsidies; R&D investment (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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