Reduced executive shareholdings and corporate green innovation.

• Executive reduction is negatively related to corporate green innovation capability. • The higher the level of internal control of listed companies, the lower the degree of inhibition of corporate green innovation by executive takeovers. • The higher the agency cost, the lower the degree of executive shareholding reduction that inhibits corporate green innovation. This paper uses 2016–2022 data for China's A-share listed companies to explore the effects of reduced shareholdings by executives (RSE) on corporate green innovation (CGI). RSE behavior and CGI are found to be significantly negatively correlated. Further, greater internal control and higher agency costs for listed companies reduce the inhibition of CGI resulting from RSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]