How Bonding and Bridging Ties Shape Green Innovation: Evidence from Director Networks in China

Abstract Since firms struggle to achieve green innovation by merely relying on internal resources, the director network has emerged as a critical channel through which to address this challenge. We explore how network features, specifically bonding and bridging ties, affect green innovation from a meso-level network community perspective. For Chinese Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed firms, we discover that bridging ties have a more positive effect on green innovation than do bonding ties. Mechanism tests show that this phenomenon is related to heterogeneous knowledge. Further analysis shows that firms with greater dynamic capability and a strong guanxi culture can better leverage bridging ties rather than bonding ties to enhance green innovation. We provide further empirical evidence on driving green innovation by clarifying the significantly different roles of bonding and bridging ties.