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Enterprise's R&D and Innovation Management

Research on the Peer Effect of Low-carbon Innovation Among  Enterprises in Low-carbon Innovation Network 

Yang Chaojun, Shi Mingjuan 

(Faculty of Management and Economics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China)

Abstract: In a close low-carbon innovation network, enterprise innovation behavior is inevi⁃ tably affected by other innovation subjects, but whether it can always benefit from the innova⁃ tion behavior of other subjects in favor of low-carbon innovation performance improvement  needs to be further explored. This paper selects the data of A-share listed companies on the  Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2014 to 2023. This study constructs a lowcarbon innovation network with enterprises as nodes and low-carbon patent cooperative rela⁃ tionships among enterprises as edges, and empirically examines the existence of the low-carbon  innovation peer effect of enterprises in the low-carbon innovation network. At the same time, elaborates on the moderating effect of network characteristics on the low-carbon innovation  peer effect in terms of two dimensions, namely, structural holes and centrality, and further ana⁃ lyzes the mechanism of its generation. The results indicate the following: ①The low-carbon in⁃ novation of peer enterprises will have an inverted U-shaped effect on the low-carbon innova⁃ tion of focal enterprises. In the early stage of low-carbon innovation, there is a peer effect in  low-carbon innovation. When the overall innovation level in the network is improved, excessive  imitation of low-carbon innovation decisions of peer enterprises will lead to a decline in the  level of low-carbon innovation. ②The network characteristics of enterprises in the low-carbon  innovation network will have an impact on their low-carbon innovation peer effect. Structural  holes and centrality can regulate and flatten the inverted U-shaped relationship between lowcarbon innovation of peer enterprises and low-carbon innovation of focal enterprises. As the  structural holes and centrality increase, the inverted U-shape relationship between low-carbon  innovation of peer enterprises and low-carbon innovation of focal enterprises will be weakened  gradually, and the curve will become flat. That is to say, moderate structural holes and central⁃ ity can alleviate the negative impact of excessive imitation of enterprises in the low-carbon in⁃ novation network, so that the low-carbon innovation performance of enterprises in the network  can reach a high level. ③The low-carbon innovation peer effect of enterprises works through  the pressure mechanism, learning mechanism, and reputation mechanism. Whether enterprises  are located in pilot low-carbon cities, enterprise status, and industry attributes show heteroge⁃ neity in the low-carbon innovation peer effect, in which enterprises in non-low-carbon pilot cit⁃ ies, leading enterprises, and non-heavily-polluting enterprises are more prone to imitate lowcarbon innovations of enterprises in the peer group. Based on the above findings, countermea⁃ sures and suggestions are proposed from three aspects. First, enterprises should find a balance  between imitation and independent innovation, and establish a two-dimensional assessment  framework of "capability-environment" from "survival adaptation" to "ecological occupation", and determine the switching time between imitation and independent innovation. Second, the  government should formulate incentive policies to encourage enterprises to innovate indepen⁃ dently, from "one-way subsidy" to "systematic catalyst". Third, enterprises and the government  should work together to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, so as to solve  the paradox of "legitimacy-differentiation" in imitation. 

Key words: low-carbon innovation network; low-carbon innovation performance; peer effect; network characteristic; inverted U-shaped relationship; green innovation