Abstract:

Background & Aims: Global conservation of biodiversity is currently confronting severe challenges, among which the funding gap is particularly pronounced. There is an urgent need for innovative mechanisms to channel market-based capital into conservation efforts and to stimulate corporate initiative. However, there is a significant structural imbalance exists within the current academic literature. Research at the macro level, focusing on conservation governance philosophies and development models, is relatively abundant. In contrast, studies at the micro level, particularly those investigating the driving mechanisms of corporate behavior, remain scarce. A systematic understanding of the specific pathways and models through which enterprises can enhance their biodiversity conservation performance has yet to be fully developed. Consequently, there is a critical imperative to conduct in-depth research at the micro enterprise level. Such research is essential to systematically unravel the intrinsic driving mechanisms behind corporate biodiversity conservation, thereby providing a theoretical foundation for Chinese enterprises to deepen their practical engagement in biodiversity protection.

Methods: In light of this research gap, this study undertakes dual efforts at both theoretical and methodological levels. First, through a theoretical extension and contextual adaptation of the traditional technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, we construct a three-dimensional integrated analytical framework termed “technical resource endowment-organizational governance structure-environmental context-driven”. This framework provides a systematic antecedent explanation for corporate biodiversity conservation behaviors. Second, leveraging panel data from 1,714 A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges’ (2006-2022), we empirically dissect the multiple driving pathways for corporate biodiversity conservation. This is achieved by applying the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method, which allows for an examination from a configurational perspective of causal conditions.

Results: (1) Within the modified TOE theoretical framework, the synergistic interaction of technical resource endowment, organizational governance structure, and environmental context-driven constituted a necessary condition for forming effective pathways driving high levels of corporate biodiversity conservation. No single dimension of these conditions was sufficient to effectively promote corporate biodiversity conservation on its own. (2) We identified several typical configurations leading to high levels of corporate biodiversity conservation. These archetypes included the corporate governance guided model, the financial condition driven model, the market pressure forced model, and the natural endowment reliant model. These configurations could explain the biodiversity conservation strategies of approximately 14%, 16%, 18%, and 23% of the sampled enterprises, respectively. (3) The current state of corporate biodiversity conservation in China was characterized by a distinct predominance of external drivers, with proactive leadership playing a supplementary role. Specifically, enterprises that were passively adapting, driven primarily by market pressures or natural resource endowments, collectively accounted for about 41% of the sample. In contrast, systematically proactive enterprises, characterized by active governance improvements or dedicated financial investments, constituted only 30%. (4) A significant “asymmetry” existed between the pathways that drive high levels of biodiversity conservation and those associated with low levels. Enterprises demonstrating low levels of biodiversity protection were primarily constrained by two specific situational configurations: the internal environment constrained type and the environmental guidance ineffective type.

Implications & Contributions: The differentiated driving pathways identified in this research offer a scientific basis for government agencies to formulate categorized guidance policies for biodiversity conservation. This enables more precise and targeted incentives to encourage corporate participation, moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. This study makes significant theoretical contributions by extending the TOE framework and employing a configurational perspective. The construction of the three-dimensional analytical framework systematically uncovers the multiple, concurrent driving mechanisms of corporate biodiversity conservation. This deepens the theoretical understanding of environmental responsibility behaviors at the micro-enterprise level, highlighting the complex interplay of factors that shape corporate action in this critical domain.

Key words: biodiversity, corporate conservation behavior, driving pathways, technology-organization-environment theory, configuration analysis