Does the green human capital of top management teams affect corporate environmental protection investment decisions?

Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2015 to 2020, this study investigates the influence of the green human capital of top management teams (TMTs) on the implementation of environmental protection investment by firms. Our findings reveal that TMT members with prior green experience significantly increase environmental protection investment through enhanced environmental awareness and green subsidies. This result remains consistent across a series of robustness tests. Furthermorte, we observe that green investors strengthen this relationship. In addition, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive impact of TMTs’ green experience on corporate environmental protection investment is more pronounced in firms with a higher proportion of female executives, firms operating in less-polluting industries, firms with greater institutional investor ownership, firms with higher management expenses, firms located in provinces characterized by a weaker speculative culture, and firms facing greater public environmental awareness. Finally, we find that TMTs’ green human capital can suppress greenwashing risk. These results not only shed light on the translation of green human capital into proactive environmental investment through enhanced environmental awareness but also contribute valuable insights to the literature and have practical implications.