Can green technological innovation enhance corporate resilience? Evidence from Chinese listed firms

Abstract

This study aims to explore the relationship between green technological innovation, digital transformation and corporate resilience at the micro-level, as well as the heterogeneity of this relationship under different levels of environmental regulation and industry competition. Conducting empirical analysis on microdata from Chinese listed corporations spanning from 2010 to 2021, this study aims to explore the impact mechanism of green technological innovation on corporate resilience. Green technological innovation exhibits a U-shaped relationship with corporate resilience among Chinese listed firms. Digital transformation steepens the curve and brings forward the turning point, enhancing resilience sensitivity. Dual heterogeneity emerges: stringent environmental regulation and intense industry competition postpone the turning point while steepening the curve, unlike weak regulation and concentrated markets. This reflects one mechanism: re-source-constraining contexts deepen early-stage friction yet magnify eventual resilience gains. The findings suggest differentiated strategies: firms in competitive settings should pursue green innovation as a long-term investment with digital leverage, while those in concentrated markets should emphasize capability accumulation and steady investment. This study suggests staged management for green tech innovation: cost control and risk assessment in the early downward phase of the curve, shifting to achievement promotion and branding in growth stages. Digital transformation accelerates U-shaped benefits via resource optimization, while stringent environmental regulation delays the turning point but amplifies eventual resilience gains through policy leverage. Limitations include overlooking firm-level heterogeneity (e.g. size, ownership, industry) due to data/model constraints, and Chinese A-share sample restricting generalizability. Future research could use multi-group analyses and cross-country comparisons to probe nonlinear effects and boundaries. During the initial stages of implementing green technological innovation, managers should proceed with caution, actively promote digital transformation and pay attention to the heterogeneous impacts of environmental regulation and industry competition intensity. The findings highlight green technological innovation’s role in bolstering societal sustainability by enabling resilient firms to reduce environmental degradation and resource depletion. Corporations adopting these strategies contribute to cleaner ecosystems, lower carbon emissions and equitable resource distribution, fostering community well-being and public health. Policymakers should promote digital tools to accelerate the realization of U-shaped benefits, while recognizing that stringent environmental regulation delays the turning point yet amplifies eventual resilience gains, ensuring inclusive green transitions that create green jobs and mitigate climate inequities. These mechanisms may in turn support collective resilience, contributing to global sustainable development goals and long-term social stability. First, it recasts the green innovation–resilience relationship as nonlinear (U-shaped) rather than monotonic, reconciling conflicting linear evidence in prior work. Second, it identifies digital transformation as a moderator reshaping the curvature of this relationship – a conditioning role unexplored in the literature, which treats digitalization primarily as a driver of green innovation. Third, it documents dual heterogeneity across environmental regulation and industry competition, uncovering a unified mechanism whereby resource-constraining contexts delay but ultimately amplify resilience returns. These findings advance theory on innovation sustainability and provide evidence-based guidance for firms navigating the green transition under varying institutional and competitive pressures.