Are CEOs With High Self-Perceived Status More Likely to be Green Innovation Advocates? Evidence From Chinese Private Enterprises

Abstract

Chief executive officer (CEO) status is increasingly recognized as a significant intrinsic factor in enterprises' strategic decisions. However, insufficient attention has been given to whether and how a CEO's self-perceived status influences corporate green innovation. Drawing from the upper echelons theory, we examine the impact of a CEO's self-perceived status on corporate green innovation. Using a unique dataset of 6478 Chinese private enterprises in 2016 and 2018, we find that high self-perceived status endows CEOs with motivation (e.g., self-esteem and status maintenance needs) and capabilities (e.g., risk-taking and resource acquisition) that contribute to their increased green innovation investment. Further, we integrate institutional theory to reveal how three institutional contingencies—government environmental regulation, peer green pressure, and environmental social norms—amplify such enhancing effect of a CEO's self-perceived status on green innovation. Our findings, which integrate micro and macro drivers, contribute to an enhanced understanding of the antecedents of green innovation from the perspective of CEO psychology and cognition as a result of how they construe their social status and clarify the institutional boundary conditions of the link between CEOs' self-perceived status and green innovation.