How Policy Perception Drives Sustainable Innovation: The Mediating Role of Innovation Investment and Organizational Incentives

Abstract

The significant impact of science and technology policies on corporate innovation performance has been widely recognized by scholars. However, some studies suggest that science and technology policies may have only moderate effectiveness or even no effect on corporate innovation development. Addressing the controversy over the effectiveness of science and technology policies, this study draws on innovation theory and agency theory to systematically explore the boundaries and underlying mechanisms of policy effectiveness. This study selected 443 high-tech enterprises in the Pearl River Delta region as the sample and employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to conduct empirical analysis of the hy-pothesized relationships. The results indicate that firms' perceptions of science and technology policies can significantly enhance innovation performance through innovation investment and organizational incentives, with the mediating effect of organizational incentives being partic-ularly prominent. Additionally, innovation leadership plays a primary moderating role in the influence of policy perceptions on these mediating factors—when innovation leadership is at a lower level, the mediating effect of organizational incentives becomes insignificant. This finding clarifies the environmental boundary conditions for the effective operation of policies. This study provides important insights for relevant fields by revealing how policy cognition, organizational internal mechanisms, and leadership collectively shape sustainable innovation outcomes.