Exploring New Green Frontiers? How CEO Green and Technological Experience Shapes Firm Ambidextrous Green Innovation

Abstract

Green innovation has gained prominence in managerial practice and academic discourse. We build on recent findings that CEO green experience promotes firm green innovation by examining how it affects the balance between exploratory and exploitative green innovation. Recognizing that the extent to which executive attributes translate into firm-level actions and results is contingent on contextual factors, we further test the moderating roles of firm ownership, industry environmental sensitivity, and regional economic development. Utilizing a panel dataset of Chinese non-financial A-share listed companies spanning 2007 to 2023, the empirical results provide compelling evidence that CEO green experience is positively associated with exploratory green innovation. This positive association is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, firms operating in environmentally nonsensitive industries, and those located in more developed regions. Our theory and findings contribute to the scholarship on CEO characteristics and green innovation. This study also delivers managerial guidance for enterprises aiming to achieve sustainable growth.