Innovating through the storm: Green technological persistence under climate governance in textile firms

Hong Yu; Han Yan

doi:10.2478/ftee-2026-0011

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Innovating through the storm: Green technological persistence under climate governance in textile firms

Fibres & Textiles in Eastern Europe

Volume 34 (2026): Issue 1 (February 2026)

By: Hong Yu and Han Yan

Open Access

|Nov 2026

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Abstract

Against the backdrop of intensifying climate risks and an ongoing green and low-carbon transition, an important question is how adaptation-oriented climate governance can help firms develop stable and persistent green innovation capabilities, thereby strengthening industrial climate resilience and improving the quality of green transformation. Using China’s climate-resilient city (CRC) pilot program as a quasi-natural experiment and data on textile-related firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2013 to 2023, this study constructs a difference-in-differences model to systematically examine the effect of adaptation-oriented climate governance on persistent corporate green innovation and the underlying mechanisms. The results show that CRC development significantly promotes persistent corporate green innovation. This finding remains robust to parallel-trends and placebo tests, changes in clustering levels, lagged controls, and more stringent controls for region-specific time-varying factors. Mechanism tests show significant post-policy increases in managerial attention to climate issues and environmental investment, consistent with the theoretical predictions of two non-price channels based on risk perception and resource investment. Subsample regressions yield positive and statistically significant policy coefficients for the groups with greater public attention, greater analyst attention, and more advanced digital transformation. Further analysis shows that CRC development significantly increases the quantity of green innovation but has no statistically significant effect on green innovation quality as measured by patent citations. This study extends research on the microeconomic effects of adaptation-oriented climate policy from the perspective of persistent corporate green innovation and provides evidence for harnessing the green innovation synergies of climate adaptation policy to advance the green transformation of industries exposed to high climate risks.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ftee-2026-0011 | Journal eISSN: 2300-7354 | Journal ISSN: 1230-3666

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Language: English

Page range: 130 - 145

Submitted on: Mar 26, 2026

Accepted on: Sep 14, 2026

Published on: Nov 3, 2026

Published by: Łukasiewicz Research Network-Łódź Institute of Technology

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: Volume open

Keywords:

Climate governance,

Climate-resilient cities,

Persistent green innovation,

Textile industry

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Business management,

Business informatics,

Process management,

Industrial chemistry,

Cellulose, paper and textiles,

Polymer science and technology,

Materials sciences,

Biomaterials and natural materials

© 2026 Hong Yu, Han Yan, published by Łukasiewicz Research Network-Łódź Institute of Technology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 34 (2026): Issue 1 (February 2026)