The Impact of High-Tech Enterprise Certification on Green Innovation: Evidence from Listed Companies in China

Against the backdrop of global efforts towards carbon peak and carbon neutrality, enhancing the level of green innovation in enterprises represents a significant challenge faced by governments worldwide. The practice of establishing a certification system for high-tech enterprises and leveraging this certification to influence corporate behavior has been shown to be an effective approach. This paper constructs an analytical framework based on incentive effects, signaling effects, and external pressure, employing the negative binomial regression method to evaluate the impact of high-tech enterprise certification on green innovation using data from listed companies in China from 2006 to 2023. The research findings indicate that, generally speaking, this certification primarily promotes green innovation through increased government subsidies, alleviation of financing constraints, and enhanced market attention. Further analysis reveals that its impact is particularly pronounced on state-owned enterprises, enterprises in central regions, and labor-intensive enterprises. Based on these research outcomes, this paper recommends that the government should further strengthen the construction of the certification system to enhance its credibility and authority; place greater emphasis on green-oriented fiscal subsidy policies; promote the development of green finance to alleviate financing constraints for enterprises; and refine the external supervision mechanisms of the capital market to provide robust support for enterprise green innovation. This study deepens the understanding of the relationship between government institutional construction and green innovation and provides empirical evidence for transforming the economic development model.