Corporate Carbon Neutrality Strategy and Sustainable Development Capabilities: A Resource‐Based Approach to Key Dynamics and Impacts

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of corporate carbon neutrality strategies on sustainable development capabilities, focusing on the heterogeneous effects arising from disparate resource configurations. Utilizing panel regression analysis on data from firms listed on China's A‐share market between 2018 and 2022, we find that carbon neutrality strategies significantly enhance corporate sustainable development capabilities, and the positive impact is more pronounced in firms with higher board human capital, greater knowledge‐sharing practices, and superior business credit. Moreover, further analysis reveals that the favorable effect of carbon neutrality strategies on sustainable development capabilities is amplified in highly polluting industries, firms in the growth stage, and firms characterized by a strong Confucian cultural orientation. This study advances the understanding of firm‐level carbon neutrality strategies by enriching the Resource‐Based View (RBV) theoretical framework and provides practical insights into the field of environmental sustainability.