Green institutional investors and corporate green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Based on an analysis of data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2022, our study explores the impact of green institutional investors on corporate green innovation. The findings indicate that green institutional investors significantly enhance firms' green innovation by alleviating financing constraints and improving internal control quality. Furthermore, executive environmental awareness, industry competition, and media attention positively moderate this relationship. Additional analysis reveals that green institutional investors not only stimulate exploitative green innovation but also more strongly drive exploratory green innovation, with no evidence of superficial "greenwashing" behavior.