A framework for determining the impacts of a multiple relationship network on green innovation

Green innovation is an important way to promote the sustainable development of high energy consumption enterprises. Different from the perspective of social networks constructed by a single entity and only the application of the regression method, this paper establishes a conceptual framework for determining the impacts of a multiple relationship network on green innovation. We use regression analysis to study the direct impact of a multiple relationship network on green innovation and the moderating roles of environmental regulation and financial slack. And we use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to study the equivalent influencing paths of green innovation. Taking 503 high energy consumption enterprises in China in 2018 as samples and based on more than 140,000 big data texts, we use text mining to construct the multiple relationship network, use content analysis to identify green patents from the massive patent data. The regression results show the following: (1) The network breadth, depth and knowledge heterogeneity can promote green innovation; and there are inverted U-shaped relationships between the network depth and green innovation and between the network knowledge heterogeneity and green innovation. (2) Environmental regulation significantly promotes the impacts of the network breadth, depth and knowledge heterogeneity on green innovation. Financial slack significantly promotes the impact of the network knowledge heterogeneity on green innovation. The results from fsQCA verify the regression findings and reveal the following: (3) When external environmental regulation and eight kinds of stakeholders (government, shareholders, suppliers, purchasers, consumers, financial institutions, scientific research institutions, competitors) in the multiple relationship network simultaneously transmit green resources, information and exert green pressure, enterprises are more likely to conduct green innovation. (4) Under appropriate environmental regulation, green innovation is mostly achieved due to deep communication with external stakeholders. (C) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.