Research on influencing factors and configuration effects of green innovation efficiency of patent-intensive industry

ABSTRACTThe paper analyses the influencing factors of the green innovation efficiency of patent-intensive industry based on grounded theory and interpretive structural model (ISM), on this basis, the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method is applied to reveal the configuration paths to high green innovation efficiency of the industry based on provincial panel data from 17 typical provinces in China from 2017 to 2019. Results of the paper indicate that: (1) all influencing factors of green innovation efficiency of patent-intensive industry can be classified into organizational factors, institutional factors, environmental factors, capital factors and technical factors; (2) among all 24 specific sub-factors which belong to these five categories, intellectual property protection, economic development level, trade openness, infrastructure construction, foreign direct investment, outward foreign direct investment and government support are the underlying factors that play the principle role in affecting the efficiency; (3) there are configuration paths to high green technology R&D efficiency, high green achievement transformation efficiency and high overall efficiency in patent-intensive industry. Research of the paper will contribute to promote green innovation and low-carbon transition in patent-intensive industry.KEYWORDS: Patent-intensive industrygreen innovation efficiencyconfiguration pathsfsQCA method Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Correction StatementThis article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation Project of Shandong Province of China [Project Numbers: ZR2021MG018; ZR2022MG079].Notes on contributorsYi ZuoYi Zuo is a doctorate student of College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology. His main research directions are technological innovation and intellectual property management.Yanping ZhouYanping Zhou is a professor of College of Economics and Management, Shandong University of Science and Technology. His main research directions are technological innovation, technological economy and industry management.