{"title":"Green technology innovation, ESG ratings and corporate sustainable performance: Empirical evidence from listed semiconductor companies in China","authors":"Yong Wang , Yujiao Liu , Xihui Haviour Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104061","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Green technology innovation is a crucial measure for semiconductor companies to tackle sustainability challenges. Drawing upon empirical evidence from 105 listed companies within the semiconductor industry, we compare the differences in the roles of green and traditional technology innovations on firms' sustainable performance, concentrating on the operating mechanism and external circumstances of green technology innovation. Results show that both green and traditional technology innovation can enhance enterprises' sustainable performance, with the former exhibiting more significant effects. Meanwhile, green technology innovation indirectly enhances sustainable and environmental performance by improving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, without indirectly improving financial performance. Additionally, online public opinion attention moderates the effectiveness of green technology innovation in enhancing firms' sustainable and environmental performance. Finally, the varying levels of corporate sustainable performance can potentially impact the enhancement effect of green technology innovation. Our research offers theoretical backing for semiconductor companies to formulate eco-friendly transformation and sustainable development strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 104061"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Review of Economics & Finance","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056025002242","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Green technology innovation is a crucial measure for semiconductor companies to tackle sustainability challenges. Drawing upon empirical evidence from 105 listed companies within the semiconductor industry, we compare the differences in the roles of green and traditional technology innovations on firms' sustainable performance, concentrating on the operating mechanism and external circumstances of green technology innovation. Results show that both green and traditional technology innovation can enhance enterprises' sustainable performance, with the former exhibiting more significant effects. Meanwhile, green technology innovation indirectly enhances sustainable and environmental performance by improving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, without indirectly improving financial performance. Additionally, online public opinion attention moderates the effectiveness of green technology innovation in enhancing firms' sustainable and environmental performance. Finally, the varying levels of corporate sustainable performance can potentially impact the enhancement effect of green technology innovation. Our research offers theoretical backing for semiconductor companies to formulate eco-friendly transformation and sustainable development strategies.
期刊介绍:
The International Review of Economics & Finance (IREF) is a scholarly journal devoted to the publication of high quality theoretical and empirical articles in all areas of international economics, macroeconomics and financial economics. Contributions that facilitate the communications between the real and the financial sectors of the economy are of particular interest.