University–industry collaborative innovation, corporate dynamic capabilities and carbon reduction

Purpose Against the backdrop of China’s “dual carbon” goals, this study aims to examine whether university–industry collaborative green innovation promotes corporate carbon-emission reduction. It further unpacks the underlying mechanisms from a dynamic capabilities perspective and investigates heterogeneity in the abatement effect across industry competition, media attention and corporates’ degree of digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach Using panel data on China’s A-share listed corporates from 2001 to 2022, the study estimates corporate and year two-way fixed effects models. University–industry collaboration is proxied by whether a corporate co-applies for green patents with universities, while emissions are measured using gridded CO2 concentrations in the vicinity of corporates’ headquarters locations. To address endogeneity and assess robustness, we use propensity score matching-difference-in-differences and other robustness checks. We further perform mechanism tests and heterogeneity analyses. Findings University–industry collaborative green innovation significantly reduces corporate carbon emissions, and the results remain robust to endogeneity concerns and multiple robustness tests. Mechanism analyses indicate that collaboration operates by strengthening corporates’ climate-policy sensing capability, enhancing low-carbon talent acquisition capability and improving green knowledge reconfiguration. Heterogeneity tests show stronger abatement effects in industries with higher competition, for corporates receiving greater media attention and among corporates with higher degree of corporate digital transformation. Originality/value This study links university–industry collaborative innovation to corporate carbon-emission reduction and introduces a dynamic capabilities framework to explain how external university knowledge is converted into actionable abatement practices. It further identifies heterogeneity in this effect by industry competition, media attention and corporates’ degree of digital transformation. The findings provide evidence-based implications for collaborative innovation policies, corporate capability building and universities’ technology-transfer and impact-oriented engagement in the low-carbon transition.