Green media coverage and corporate green innovation

Abstract We examine the effect of media coverage of corporate environmental activities on corporate green innovation. Using a large sample of corporate news coverage over the period 2001–2019, we find a positive relationship between green media coverage and the green innovation of a corporation but a negative one between nongreen media coverage and green innovation. These results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests, including the instrumental approach and propensity score matching method. We examine and verify two well‐documented general channels through which the media influences corporate behaviors, namely, the financial constraint mitigation and external governance. More importantly, we examine channels specifically related to green media coverage and find that green media coverage strengthens the effect of pressure imposed by the government and the public for green innovation. Taken together, our results suggest that the media plays a distinctive role in green innovation through its particular attention to the environment.