The Impact of Managerial Myopia on Corporate Green Innovation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62177/apemr.v3i5.1858Keywords:
Green Innovation, Managerial Myopia, Strategic Alliances, R&D Investment, Digital TransformationAbstract
Whether managerial myopia shapes corporate green innovation has attracted surprisingly little attention. This paper examines that question directly. Evidence comes from 33,813 firm-year observations on 4,661 A-share firms listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen between 2010 and 2021, and the analysis covers three issues: the effect of managerial myopia on green innovation, the mediating channels of strategic alliances and R&D investment, and the moderating role of digital transformation. Managerial myopia turns out to hold green innovation back. A large part of the damage is indirect: myopic managers are less inclined to build alliances with other firms and they cut R&D spending, and both shifts dampen green innovation. Digital transformation pulls in the other direction, weakening the negative myopia-green innovation link and easing the myopia-alliance and myopia-R&D relationships as well. By placing managers' psychological traits at the center of the analysis, this paper enriches work on the antecedents of green innovation and offers firms practical guidance for green transformation and sustainable development.
Downloads
References
Fan, Z., Chen, Y. & Mo, Y. (2024). Management myopia and corporate ESG performance. International Review of Financial Analysis, 92, 103071.
Zhou, C. & Lin, F. (2024). Does global diversification promote or hinder green innovation? Evidence from Chinese multinational corporations. Technovation, 129, 102905.
Chen, Y. S., Lai, S. B. & Wen, C. T. (2006). The influence of green innovation performance on corporate advantage in Taiwan. Journal of Business Ethics, 67, 331-339.
Zhang, J., Kang, L., Li, H., Ballesteros-Pérez, P., Skitmore, M. & Zuo, J. (2020). The impact of environmental regulations on urban green innovation efficiency: The case of Xi'an. Sustainable Cities and Society, 57, 102121.
Sun, G., Fang, J., Li, J. & Wang, X. (2024). Research on the impact of the integration of digital economy and real economy on enterprise green innovation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 200, 122990.
Huang, Y., Chen, C., Lei, L. & Zhang, Y. (2022b). Impacts of green finance on green innovation: A spatial and nonlinear perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 365, 132548.
Huang, X. X., Hu, Z. P., Liu, C. S., Yu, D. J. & Yu, L. F. (2016). The relationships between regulatory and customer pressure, green organizational responses, and green innovation performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 3423-3433.
Chen, W., Zhu, Y. & Wang, C. (2023). Executives' overseas background and corporate green innovation. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 30, 165-179.
Li, Y., Zhu, Y., Tan, W., Qi, T. & Huang, Y. (2024). Female executive and energy consumption intensity: The role of green innovation. Finance Research Letters, 64, 105499.
Zhao, J., Chankoson, T., Cheng, W. & Pongtornkulpanich, A. (2025). Executive compensation incentives, innovation openness and green innovation: evidence from China's heavily polluting enterprises. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 32, 12345-12360.
Xia, Y. & Zhong, Y. (2025). The green advantage: exploring the power of executives with green experience on green innovation in China. Current Psychology, 44, 6688-6699.
Wu, L., Yi, X., Hu, K., Lyulyov, O. & Pimonenko, T. (2025). The effect of ESG performance on corporate green innovation. Business Process Management Journal, 31, 24-48.
Cheng, W., Li, Q., Wu, Q., Ye, F. & Jiang, Y. (2024). Digital capability and green innovation: The perspective of green supply chain collaboration and top management's environmental awareness. Heliyon, 10, e24065.
Jian, J., Tian, H., Hu, D. & Tang, Z. (2024). Manager myopia and green technology innovation. Management Decision, 62, 1618-1644.
Brochet, F., Loumioti, M. & Serafeim, G. (2015). Speaking of the short-term: Disclosure horizon and managerial myopia. Review of Accounting Studies, 20, 1122-1163.
Hu, N., Xue, F. & Wang, H. (2021). Does managerial myopia affect long-term investment? Based on text analysis and machine learning. Management World, 37, 139-156.
Yu, Y., Xie, B., Dou, Z. & Fu, Q. (2024). Managerial myopia and corporate innovation strategy. Finance Research Letters, 67, 105733.
Gao, Y., Cheng, X., Zhang, W. & Shen, H. (2024). Individual investors' dividend taxes and managerial myopia. Finance Research Letters, 62, 105270.
Xu, G., Ali, D. & Bhaumik, A. (2023). The influence of managerial myopia on corporate green innovation: An empirical analysis of A-share listed firms (2012-2021). Journal of Green Economy and Low-Carbon Development, 4, 1-15.
Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O. A., Pavlou, P. A. & Venkatraman, N. V. (2013). Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights. MIS Quarterly, 471-482.
Vial, G. (2021). Understanding digital transformation: A review and a research agenda. Managing Digital Transformation, 13-66.
Wang, Y., Wang, T. & Wang, Q. (2024b). The impact of digital transformation on enterprise performance: An empirical analysis based on China's manufacturing export enterprises. PLoS ONE, 19, e0299723.
Xu, M., Zhang, Y., Sun, H., Tang, Y. & Li, J. (2024). How digital transformation enhances corporate innovation performance: The mediating roles of big data capabilities and organizational agility. Heliyon, 10, e24123.
Wang, W., Cao, Q., Li, Z. & Zhu, J. (2025). Digital transformation and corporate environmental performance. Finance Research Letters, 76, 106936.
Zhang, W. & Meng, F. (2023). Enterprise digital transformation and regional green innovation efficiency based on the perspective of digital capability: Evidence from China. Systems, 11, 526.
Huang, B., Li, H., Jiang, P. & Lei, J. (2022a). Strategic alliance, factor flow and firm total factor productivity growth. Journal of Management World, 38, 195-212.
Cabral, J. J., Deng, C. & Kumar, M. S. (2020). Internal resource allocation and external alliance activity of diversified firms. Journal of Management Studies, 57, 1690-1717.
Jiang, R. J., Tao, Q. T. & Santoro, M. D. (2010). Alliance portfolio diversity and firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 31, 1136-1144.
Ferreira, J., Coelho, A. & Moutinho, L. (2021). Strategic alliances, exploration and exploitation and their impact on innovation and new product development: the effect of knowledge sharing. Management Decision, 59, 370-388.
Wan, D., Yang, Y. & Kong, Y. (2025). Research on the relationship between R&D investment, corporate governance and corporate performance—an empirical analysis based on listed pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1456789.
Li, Y. & Xiao, Z. (2023). R&D investment and regional innovation performance–threshold effects based on intellectual property protection. Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, 31, 684-710.
Xu, J., Liu, F. & Shang, Y. (2021). R&D investment, ESG performance and green innovation performance: evidence from China. Kybernetes, 50, 737-756.
Xiang, J. & Xie, T. (2025). Strategic alliances and green innovation bubbles: drivers, distortions, and environmental consequences. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1688327.
Wang, C., Wang, D., Deng, X. & Wang, S. (2023). Research on the impact of enterprise digital transformation on internal control. Sustainability, 15, 8392.
Wu, L., Lou, B. & Hitt, L. (2019). Data analytics supports decentralized innovation. Management Science, 65, 4863-4877.
Shi, H., Xia, Y., Li, Y., Hua, Y. & Fu, Y. (2025). Data asset information disclosure divergence and green innovation: Causal evidence from double-debiased machine learning. Finance Research Letters, 107, 104876.
Sheng, X., Guo, S. & Chang, X. (2022). Managerial myopia and firm productivity: Evidence from China. Finance Research Letters, 49, 103083.
Czarnitzki, D. & Hottenrott, H. (2011). R&D investment and financing constraints of small and medium-sized firms. Small Business Economics, 36, 65-83.
Shefer, D. & Frenkel, A. (2005). R&D, firm size and innovation: an empirical analysis. Technovation, 25, 25-32.
Liu, X. (2022). Managerial myopia and firm green innovation: Based on text analysis and machine learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 911335.
Wen, Z. & Ye, B. (2014). Analyses of mediating effects: the development of methods and models. Advances in Psychological Science, 22, 731.
Downloads
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Wen Wen

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.








