ABSTRACT Corporate green investment enhances ethical performance by promoting ecologically sustainable practices, fostering transparency, and supporting long‐term strategic decision‐making. This increases stakeholder confidence and reinforces long‐term organizational integrity. Drawing on stakeholder theory, this study investigates the impact of corporate green investment on ethical performance and examines how innovation capability moderates this relationship. Data from the Blomberg database were identified, and 462 nonfinancial firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2024 were selected using a purposive sampling technique with stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria. To ensure unbiased and reliable empirical results, second‐generation estimation methods, common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG), augmented mean group (AMG), and the two‐step difference generalized method of moments (GMM) were employed. The findings revealed a positive and significant impact of corporate green investment, proxied by environmental capital expenditures, green bond issuance, renewable energy investment, and green research and development (R&D), on ethical performance. The moderating effect of innovation capability on environmental capital expenditures and green bond issuance also shows a positive and significant influence on ethical performance. The findings suggest that innovation capacity significantly amplifies the impact of green capital expenditures and green bonds in promoting ethical and sustainable performance. Corporations are encouraged to integrate innovative strategies with responsible environmental investments to achieve greater sustainability outcomes. Policymakers should foster financial mechanisms that prioritize environmental sustainability, driven by creative solutions and reinforced by supportive global regulations.
Mensah et al. (2026) studied this question.