Do corporate environmental ethics influence firms' green practice? The mediating role of green innovation and the moderating role of personal ties

Drawing on resource-based view and social exchange theories, this study examines the relationships between corporate environmental ethics, green innovation and firm economic performance. It also explores the moderating effects of two different types of personal ties on these relationships. The analysis of a sample of 416 Chinese firms indicates that green innovation partially mediates the relationship between corporate environmental ethics and firm economic performance. Business ties amplify the positive effect of corporate environmental ethics on green innovation, whereas political ties mitigate the effect. These results contribute to the clean production literature by explaining firms' green practices from the internal organisational culture perspective and by recognising the contingent roles of social factors. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.