Page 156 - IJOCTA-15-4

Mengxue Li et al. / IJOCTA, Vol.15, No.4, pp.686-705 (2025)
their technical capabilities, optimize resource al- the R&D funding gap and improve their enthu-
location, and promote the improvement of GIE. siasm for conducting green innovation activities.
Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed: Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H3: COORP is significantly and positively related H5: The extent of GOVNM is significantly and
to the GIE of SNEs. positively related to the GIE of SNEs.
3.4.4. Environmental protection input
intensity 4. Influencing factors analysis on green
innovation efficiency of SNEs in
Enterprise pollution control requires the alloca-
Zhejiang
tion of funds for environmental protection and
the diversion of capital from production and op- 4.1. Variable selection and model setting
erational activities to environmental protection
4.1.1. Explained variable
activities, to comply with environmental protec-
tion policies. Environmental protection invest- The explained variables are the GIE of Zhejiang
ment is merely a palliative measure for enterprise SNEs and the CRS of Zhejiang SNEs, measured
production and operation, and an environmen- in the previous chapter, and are directly adopted.
tal protection behavior that temporarily meets
regulatory standards. When enterprises confront
4.1.2. Explained variable
government environmental regulations, environ-
mental protection investment becomes an incen- A total of five explanatory variables of Zhejiang
tive for them to undertake green innovation. Ad- SNEs are included in the study: (i) R&D ex-
vanced and high-level production technology will penditure is chosen to measure R&D investment;
gradually assume an important supporting role (ii) the logarithmic worth of the total assets of
in enhancing the green production level of enter- the enterprise in years 2017–2021 is chosen to
prises. Environmental protection investment will measure the ES; (iii) the total amount of green
induce enterprises to implement green innova- invention and utility model patents jointly autho-
tion. Generally, green innovation activities have rized in the years 2017–2021 is chosen to measure
a long cycle and require a longer time for prepa- the degree of COORP; (iv) the total amount
ration, design, R&D, etc., thus the effect of green of environmental protection expenditures, such
innovation will not be manifested in a short pe- as environmental protection expenditure, pollu-
riod. In this study, the amount of environmental tion control expenditure, as well as greening and
protection expenditures, including environmental environmental protection fee, under the environ-
protection, pollution control, and green environ- mental and sustainable development item of the
mental protection, is evaluated. Therefore, the company’s annual social responsibility report, en-
following hypothesis is proposed: vironmental report, and sustainable development
report are selected to measure the environmental
H4: The correlation between environmental pro- protection investment intensity (ENVIR); (v) the
tection input intensity and the GIE of SNEs is ratio of the total amount of government subsidies
not significant. publicized in the enterprise annual report to the
business income is chosen to measure the degree
3.4.5. The extent of government financial of GOVNM.
support

Environmental regulations raise the non-
4.1.3. Control variable
productive costs of enterprises. Green innovation
is characterized by substantial input, a long cycle, According to a previous study, 45 the degree of
and uncertain output, which results in a lack of ownership concentration, net operating cash flow,
motivation for green innovation. Hence, the gov- asset-liability ratio, and board size are selected
ernment is required to offer enterprises innovation as the control variables for the study. The degree
support through incentives and compensation. At of ownership concentration creates a dual effect
the stage of green technology R&D, enterprises by affecting information transfer efficiency and
need to allocate green innovation resources to decision-making checks and balances, which may
conduct green R&D activities. However, environ- either promote innovation investment by reducing
mental regulations might cause the crowding out agency costs or inhibit long-term green projects
of R&D funds. Therefore, enterprises need gov- due to interest bias. 46 The asset–liability ratio
ernment financial support (GOVNM) to bridge constrains the allocation of innovation resources
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