Sectoral structure and corporate climate strategy: A typology of adaptation, mitigation and ambidextrous configurations in emerging economies

Abstract

Research on corporate climate strategy usually explains differences in decarbonisation through managerial cognition, leadership, capabilities or institutional pressure. This paper develops a complementary meso-level explanation: sectoral structural attributes, namely risk exposure profile, asset-cycle longevity and institutional context, filter macro-level climate pressures and condition the feasible set of firm-level responses. Using an integrative review that combines 52 peer-reviewed studies identified through Scopus and Web of Science, 12 institutional reports and 22 corporate disclosures (2021–2024), the study compares agribusiness, renewable energy and heavy manufacturing, with India as the principal context. It develops three ideal types. The Resilient Adapter is shaped by immediate physical risk and favours adaptation. The Transformative Mitigator is shaped by transition opportunity and climate-aligned capital and favours mitigation-led growth. The Ambidextrous Navigator is shaped by long-lived carbon-intensive assets and contested institutional pressure, and sustains legacy operations while investing selectively in low-carbon alternatives. Structural contingency theory supplies the fit logic, socio-technical transitions and institutional theory explain meso-level conditions, dynamic capabilities explain variation in execution, and configuration theory guides ideal-type construction. The paper proposes that the gap between climate disclosure and action varies with how closely verified climate performance is tied to finance, market opportunity, regulation and legitimacy, and it outlines Socio-Technical Transition Effectiveness as a provisional outcome framework. The study does not test causal relationships. It offers a context-sensitive typology, a set of propositions and an agenda for empirical research on corporate decarbonisation in emerging economies.