Mechanism for Green Development Behavior and Performance of Industrial Enterprises (GDBP-IE) Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)

Li, Xingwei; Du, Jianguo; Long, Hongyu

Although the theory of green development behavior and performance of industrial enterprises (GDBP-IE) reveals that the green development behavior (GDB) of industrial enterprises is affected by internal and external factors and produces performance, it lacks a clear mechanism. This paper aims to verify the theory of GDBP-IE and reveals the mechanism of GDBP-IE in the Chinese context. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to analyze valid samples of Chinese industrial enterprises (N = 615). The empirical conclusions are as follows. (1) Corporate tangible resources, corporate intangible resources (CIR), market environment, public supervision and policy and institutional environment (PIE) have a significant positive effect on GDB (i.e., green supply chain management practice and clean production behavior). (2) Compared with other factors, the positive effect of CIR on GDB is the strongest. (3) The level of positive effect of PIE on GDB is not as significant as other factors. (4) GDB has a significant positive effect on green development performance (i.e., corporate social performance, corporate financial performance and corporate environmental performance). This paper provides effective evidence for researchers to use other methods to further verify the theory of GDBP-IE in the Chinese context. This paper also provides an opportunity for cluster analysis of GDBP-IE in different countries or regions. In addition, this paper not only gives a targeted reference for the government to formulate guidelines concerning the green development of industrial enterprises but also encourages industrial enterprise managers to formulate green development strategies, which is a way to help industrial enterprise managers and workers to participate in and comply with GDB.