Saying, Doing, and Co‐Inventing: How Environmental, Social, and Governance Disclosure–Performance (In)congruence Shapes Open Innovation

Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility  ·  2026

Mengke Wang; Wenjun Cai; Ataullah Kiani; Di Zhao;

HIGHLIGHT

This study contributes to ESG and open innovation research by showing how different ESG disclosure–performance configurations shape collaborative innovation outcomes.

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ABSTRACT

Although environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure–performance (in)congruence has attracted growing attention, its impact on open innovation remains underexplored. Drawing on signaling theory, we hypothesize that when ESG disclosure and ESG performance are congruent, open innovation increases as both rise in tandem. When they are incongruent, performance‐leading decoupling (performance > disclosure) is expected to yield higher open innovation than disclosure‐leading decoupling (disclosure > performance). We further propose that environmental regulatory pressure and red culture amplify these effects. Using an unbalanced firm‐level panel of Chinese A‐share listed companies from 2009 to 2023, we apply polynomial regression and response surface analysis and find support for the hypotheses. This study contributes to ESG and open innovation research by showing how different ESG disclosure–performance configurations shape collaborative innovation outcomes. The findings also offer practical insights into how firms can attract innovation partners by aligning ESG communication with substantive action.

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