Can Mandatory Disclosure Policies Promote Corporate Environmental Responsibility?-Quasi-Natural Experimental Research on China

Environmental disclosure practices in mixed ownership models: A study of Chinese private enterprises

Environmental information disclosure is critical avenue for stakeholders to gauge the fulfillment of corporate environmental responsibilities, as well as a key path for companies to gain social reputation and achieve sustainable development. To achieve both economic and social sustainability and improve the environmental information disclosure by private firms, this study delves into the impact mechanism and realization path of mixed ownership reform on environmental information disclosure among Chinese private enterprises listed between 2010 and 2020. Utilizing a panel fixed effect model, we scrutinize the interplay between state capital involvement and the disclosure of environmental information by private enterprises. Our findings reveal that state capital involvement may encourage private enterprises to disclose environmental information through resource allocation and governance improvements. The higher the shareholding ratio of state-owned participating shareholders, the more it helps private firms to disclose environmental information. State-owned shareholders play a pivotal role in the appointment of supervisors, directors, and executives, effectively improving corporate governance mechanisms and positively moderates how private companies with state-owned capital participate in disclosing environmental information. Moreover, the magnitude of media coverage and the public opinion pressure faced by private enterprises further amplify the influence of state-owned capital involvement on environmental information disclosure. Additionally, our research reveals that corporate profitability partially interplays with the effects of state-owned capital disclosure of environmental information by private companies. According to the research results, we recommend that the government proactively promote mixed ownership reform with private enterprises as the main participants, fully leveraging the resource advantages and influence of state-owned capital. At the same time, it is imperative to strengthen the governance effect of internal state-owned shareholders and external public opinion supervision in private enterprises. Enhancing profitability is also identified as a key driver for private enterprises to engage in more robust environmental information disclosure practices.

The asymmetric influences of environmental subsidy and non-environmental subsidy on corporate environmental responsibility: evidence from China

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of government environmental subsidies (GES) and non-environmental subsidies (GNES) on corporate environmental responsibility (CER). Using a sample of Chinese listed companies over the period 2010 to 2020, we find that GES exhibits an inverted U-shaped impact on CER, while GNES shows a positive influence on CER, and these associations still exist after using the alternative measure of CER and addressing potential endogenous issues. In addition, we document that the effect of GES is not significant in companies operating in non-heavily polluting industries, and the effect of GNES is not significant in state-owned enterprises, firms with lower financing constraints and registered in regions with a lower degree of marketization. This study not only enriches the research on the influencing factors of CER but also provides theoretical guidance for the government to improve the efficiency of the use of different government subsidies and promote the greening process.

Does the Government’s Environmental Attention Affect Ambient Pollution? Empirical Research on Chinese Cities

Environmental pollution has attracted growing government attention. We employ a series of panel data regression models to measure and analyze the impact of environmental attention of 284 prefecture-level municipal governments on ambient pollution in China. The results show that: (1) The improvement of government environmental attention can curb ambient pollution. (2) The impact of government environmental attention on ambient pollution is heterogeneous in the difference of regional and local environmental pollution severity. (3) Government environmental attention inhibits ambient pollution through green development and industrial upgrading. The conclusions of this paper provide evidence and implications for environmental regulation in developing countries and cities.

The Relationship between Environmental Regulation, Pollution and Corporate Environmental Responsibility

The rapid economic development has severely damaged the ecological environment and affected public health. Firms are the main source of pollution; thus, corporate environmental responsibility (CER) has attracted great attention from the government, shareholders and the public. This study used both the fixed effects model and the system GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) model to examine the relationship between environmental pollution, environmental regulations and CER for 30 provinces in China, over the period 2005 to 2015. This study drew the following results: first, mandatory CER disclosure policy can significantly decrease environmental pollution. Second, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between environmental regulations and environmental pollution. Third, environmental pollution has a positive impact on CER. Fourth, an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between environmental regulations and CER. Therefore, it is necessary to find a balance between environmental regulations affecting environmental pollution and CER so that they can effectively reduce environmental pollution and increase the enthusiasm of firms to carry out environmental responsibility activities.