Is institutional pressure the driver for green business model innovation of SMEs? Mediating and moderating roles of regional innovation intermediaries

Abstract

While extant research has concentrated on the promotion of regional innovation, it has predominantly adopted a knowledge-based approach. However, there has been a paucity of inquiry into the collective influence of institutional pressure and regional innovation intermediaries (RIIs) on the green business model innovation (GBMI) of small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to identify the mechanisms through which SMEs enhance their GBMI, arguing that RIIs' multifaceted response to institutional pressures can act as both a mediator and a moderator. The empirical results, based on data collected from 176 South Korean SMEs in collaboration with Technoparks, indicate that institutional pressures, specifically regulatory and normative pressures, positively impact GBMI. Although RIIs demonstrate a positive mediating effect on the relationship between institutional pressures and GBMI, the moderating effect of RII yielded a mixed result: positive moderation with regulatory pressure and negative with normative pressure. The findings of our study suggest that RIIs should cultivate a nuanced understanding of the distinctive attributes of each institutional pressure to bolster the GBMI of SMEs.