Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus, 10 via Mersin, 99628, Famagusta, Turkey.
Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC) Clinic of Economics, Baku, Azerbaijan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Dec;30(59):124170-124181. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-31123-1. Epub 2023 Nov 24.
Renewable energy sources have become a priority for countries' energy agendas due to climate change. Accordingly, the financial performance of renewable energy firms should be enhanced through research and development (R&D) investment to achieve the energy transition. The positive effect of R&D investment on financial performance is well documented in the literature. However, it is not clear whether this positive effect varies or not depending on the institutional characteristics of countries, such as shareholder protection and creditor rights. This study examines whether shareholder protection, on the one hand, and creditor rights, on the other, have any moderating effect on the R&D-financial performance nexus by using firm-level data from 912 renewable energy firms in 21 European Union countries from 2011 to 2020. The results show that shareholder protection strengthens the positive effect of R&D investment on the financial performance of renewable energy firms, while creditor rights negatively moderate this relationship. Thus, firms operating in countries with strong shareholder protection (creditor rights) invest more (less) in R&D activities, which leads to an increase (decrease) in financial performance. Consequently, policymakers may consider policy changes that encourage shareholders and discourage creditors from maximizing their R&D investments, which increase financial performance.
由于气候变化，可再生能源已成为各国能源议程的重点。因此，应通过研发（R&D）投资来提高可再生能源公司的财务业绩，以实现能源转型。文献中充分记录了 R&D 投资对财务业绩的积极影响。然而，尚不清楚这种积极影响是否会因国家的制度特征（如股东保护和债权人权利）而有所不同。本研究利用 2011 年至 2020 年来自 21 个欧盟国家的 912 家可再生能源公司的企业层面数据，检验了股东保护一方面和债权人权利另一方面是否对 R&D-财务业绩关系具有调节作用。结果表明，股东保护增强了 R&D 投资对可再生能源公司财务业绩的积极影响，而债权人权利则负向调节了这种关系。因此，在股东保护（债权人权利）较强的国家运营的公司会增加（减少）对 R&D 活动的投资，从而提高（降低）财务业绩。因此，政策制定者可能会考虑鼓励股东和抑制债权人最大化其 R&D 投资以提高财务业绩的政策变化。
