This study aims to explore the relationship between firms’ negative and positive aspiration environmental performance gap (AEPG) and persistent green innovation (PGI). At the same time, this study explored the moderating role of CEO green experience in the APEG–PGI relationship.
This study uses panel data of Chinese heavily polluting listed firms from 2008 to 2024 to test hypotheses.
There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between negative AEPG and PGI, while there is a U-shaped relationship between positive AEPG and PGI. CEO green experience significantly moderates the relationship between positive AEPG and PGI, but only weakly moderates that between negative AEPG and PGI.
Because this research focuses on heavily polluting firms, there are limitations in the data’s industry distribution. Another limitation is the inability to differentiate the moderating effect of CEO green experience across various industry contexts.
While extensive research has been conducted on financial performance feedback, substantial gaps remain in understanding firms’ strategic responses to environmental performance feedback. This study examines the factors influencing green innovation from a dynamic persistence perspective, thereby providing important complements to and extending the literature on performance feedback.
