RETRACTED ARTICLE: The relationship between internal control and sustainable development of enterprises by mediating roles of exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation

This study investigates the mediating role of dual innovation in the relationship between internal control and sustainable enterprise development. The focus is on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2019. The moderating effect of the nature of property rights and enterprise size on the relationship between internal control and sustainable enterprise development is discussed. There are five major findings: (1) Internal control significantly influences the sustainable development of enterprises; (2) Internal control has a significant positive effect on exploratory innovation, but no significant effect on exploitative innovation; (3) Exploratory innovation has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between internal control and sustainable enterprise development, but exploitative innovation has no such mediating effect; (4) Compared with state-owned enterprises, the quality of internal control of non-state-owned enterprises has a more considerable impact on the sustainable development of enterprises;(5) Lastly, the internal control of all enterprises, regardless of their sizes, plays an obvious role in promoting the sustainable enterprise development. Therefore, enterprises’ top managements should consider the role of internal control and the different effects of dual innovation when they formulate strategies or policies for sustainable development. The study enriches the literature on the mechanism of internal control influencing the sustainable enterprise development. Furthermore, the findings expand and deepen the research on the conditions of internal control influencing the sustainable enterprise development.