R&D Intensity, Renewable Energy Use, and Sustainability Governance Mechanisms: An International Investigation

ABSTRACT Harmonizing the natural resource‐based view, goal‐setting, and stakeholder theories, this study aims to investigate the role of research and development (RD) intensity in stimulating renewable energy use with the moderation of sustainability mechanisms. Exploiting international data between 2002 and 2019, we find that RD intensity stimulates renewable energy consumption. Furthermore, we find that both sustainability mechanisms, namely the sustainability committee and executive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compensation, positively moderate between RD intensity and renewable energy consumption. Deepening our investigation by splitting the sample into various fragmentations revealed that the positive association between RD intensity and renewable energy use is validated for firms domiciled in more developed countries (i.e., G10), high RD firms, and non‐polluting sectors.