Entrepreneurs’ Spirit and Corporate Green Development: The Mediating Role of New-Quality Productivity

Abstract

As a fundamental unit of sustainable economic development, corporate green development is significantly influenced by entrepreneurs’ spirit and new-quality productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the intrinsic connections among entrepreneurs’ spirit, new-quality productivity, and corporate green development. This study leverages data from 17,079 A-share manufacturing companies from 2012 to 2022. It employs a dual-dimensional fixed-effects model to investigate the mechanisms, pathways, and effects of entrepreneurs’ spirit on corporate green development, with new-quality productivity serving as a mediating variable. The findings reveal that (1) stability tests using the IV method and Heckman’s two-step method indicate that entrepreneurs’ spirit significantly promotes corporate green development; (2) mediation-effect tests show that new-quality productivity partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurs’ spirit and corporate green development; and (3) heterogeneity-effect tests demonstrate that the promoting effect of entrepreneurs’ spirit on corporate green development is more pronounced in large enterprises compared to small- and medium-sized enterprises, in eastern enterprises compared to those in central and western regions, and in less competitive enterprises compared to more competitive ones. These conclusions not only enrich the research on corporate green development but also aid in the formulation of corporate-green-development strategies, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development.