Top management team gender diversity and green innovation: A contingent curvilinear link
研究了中国制造业上市公司高管团队性别多样性与绿色创新之间的倒U型关系，并发现女性高管教育水平和绿色行业创新强度会缓和这一曲线，而国有所有权则加剧其陡峭程度。
Abstract The increasing significance of green innovation for firm competitiveness introduces greater risks and uncertain returns, challenging top managers' strategic decisions. The influence of top management team (TMT) characteristics, particularly gender diversity, on green innovation remains unclear. Drawing on gender difference and social identity theories, this study examines the curvilinear relationship between TMT gender diversity and green innovation among 2026 Chinese publicly listed manufacturing firms from 2011 to 2018. Through the use of fixed‐effects Poisson models to confirm our hypotheses, we uncover an inverted U‐shaped relationship between TMT gender diversity and green innovation. Furthermore, we delve into the contingent roles of individual, corporate, and industry factors affecting this primary relationship. Specifically, our findings reveal that the educational attainment of female executives and the strength of green industry innovation flatten the inverted U‐shaped curve between TMT gender diversity and green innovation, whereas state ownership steepen it. Our study resolves the inconsistencies found in previous research by integrating multiple theoretical perspectives and offers empirical insights into the role of women in shaping sustainable development in emerging markets.