Political corruption and green innovation

This study investigates the influence of corruption on firms' green innovation activities in the context of Chinese listed firms during a period from 2007 to 2017. We find that the firms headquartered in severely corrupted provinces are associated with fewer green patents and citations. This finding is robust after addressing endogeneity concerns. Furthermore, we document profound evidence that local corruption reduces corporate green innovating activities through reducing the demands of corporate green innovations and increasing the opportunity costs for green innovating investments. Our findings shed light on the negative effects of political corruption on corporate green innovations.