Institutional pressure and corporate green innovation—the influence of knowledge management process

Using a multiple linear regression model constructed on data from construction firms in a province in eastern China, we investigated the impact of three types of institutional pressures from outside the firm on corporate green innovation and how the three knowledge management processes affect the relationship between them. We found that all three institutional pressures significantly positively impact corporate green innovation, with normative pressure having the most significant impact on corporate green innovation, followed by coercive pressure. The results also indicate that all three institutional pressures have an important mediating effect on green innovation through knowledge integration. Knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing do not moderate the relationship between imitative pressure and green innovation. Thus, the findings emphasize the importance of institutional pressure and its role through knowledge integration for firms to achieve green innovation. The findings also emphasize the need to differentiate between similarities and differences between organizations to understand the impact of knowledge sharing on the relationship between institutional pressure and green innovation, thus increasing research on the conditions under which knowledge sharing contributes to green innovation in firms.