Steering Sustainability: The Interplay of CEO Imprints, Organizational Performance, and Government Policies in Green Innovation

How do CEOs’ unique early-life experiences—particularly those shaped by formative influences such as military training—impact their subsequent strategic decision-making in green innovation? By integrating upper-echelon theory, imprinting theory, and the green innovation literature, this paper explores whether and when a CEO’s military background influences a firm’s adoption of green innovation practices, specifically within an emerging market context. Analyzing a sample of 1419 Chinese listed firms over the period from 2007 to 2016, our results reveal a significant positive effect of a CEO’s military experience on the firm’s green innovation performance. Furthermore, we find that a firm’s positive financial performance amplifies the influence of the CEO’s military imprint on green innovation outcomes. However, the intensity of government environmental regulation moderates this effect, weakening the relationship between the CEO’s personal values and the firm’s green innovation performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.