This study investigates the relationship between political connections and corporate environmental performance, and examines the role of government green subsidies on this relationship within the current Chinese context. Using data from publicly traded private manufacturing firms, empirical results show that politically connected firms are significantly more likely to obtain green subsidies than non-connected firms. Assisted by green subsidies, firms with political connections show better environmental performance than those without. Our findings reveal the mechanism by which corporate political connections influence environmental performance.

A rapid increase in environmental concerns has prompted firms to engage in green innovation. However, previous studies have found contradictory results for the relationship between green innovation and financial performance, thus offering us an opportunity to revisit the relationship using a meta-analysis method. By analyzing a sample size of 20 503 observations from 80 studies, in this article, we find a positive relationship between green innovation and financial performance. Moreover, the relationship is stronger in fast-clockspeed and close-to-consumer industries than in others and stronger in countries with a strong control of corruption and a long-term cultural orientation than in others. This article advances the understanding of the green innovation–financial performance relationship as well as of the role of research context as a moderator of that relationship.