Green Technology Innovation, Productivity, and ESG Performance: Asymmetric Associations and Empirical Channels in Chinese A-Share Firms

초록

This study examines whether green technology innovation is associated differently with firm productivity and ESG performance. Using panel data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2013 to 2022, we estimate firm and year fixed-effects models and compare within-firm and pooled associations. In the primary corrected revenue-mode specification, green patent applications are negatively associated with short-run within-firm revenue productivity but positively associated with ESG ratings; the productivity result is construct- and specification-bounded. Alternative productivity measures further show that pooled and within-firm specifications capture materially different relationships. Firm age strengthens the ESG association more than the productivity association, whereas temporally ordered tests do not support environmental attention as a mediating channel, and the asset-turnover diagnostics are null. These findings qualify the conventional win-win view of green innovation and highlight the importance of distinguishing external rating responsiveness from internal operational outcomes. The productivity measure is revenue-based and does not represent physical efficiency.

키워드