Higher education quality and environmental management innovation: mechanisms and evidence

Purpose This study aims to elucidate the mechanism that links higher education quality and environmental management innovation with the objective of addressing green transformation challenges in heavily polluting enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2008 to 2023. Then, it conducts a quantitative empirical analysis and uses a triple difference-in-differences model to examine the relationship and mechanisms between higher education quality and environmental management innovation rigorously. Findings The empirical results demonstrate that higher education quality significantly enhances environmental management innovation among heavily polluting enterprises by improving executives’ green cognition and mitigating corporate greenwashing risk. These effects are pronounced in regions that are characterised by strong government environmental governance and within non-state-owned enterprises. Further analyses of economic consequences reveal that higher education quality ultimately translates into measurable improvements in corporate value by strengthening environmental management innovation. Originality/value This study integrates higher education quality and environmental management innovation into a unified analytical model by quantitatively uncovering their mechanisms and offering empirical evidence to address the “motivation dilemma” underlying the green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises. Consequently, this work not only enriches theoretical interpretations of the mechanisms that connect higher education and environmental management but also offers targeted empirical insights for evidence-based policy formulation and resource optimisation.