IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/growch/v52y2021i3p1732-1760.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does central environmental protection inspection enhance firms’ environmental disclosure? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Lingling Pan
  • Sheng Yao

Abstract

An increasing number of emerging countries have begun implementing central environmental protection inspection (CEPI) to make up for the lack of environmental decentralization. Extant literature has shown that CEPI improves local environmental enforcement and performance. However, it is unclear whether CEPI, which is regarded as a non‐routine environmental enforcement and independent of the system of environmental decentralization, has an increasing effect on firms’ environmental disclosure. This paper selects the listed firms located in Hebei Province, the pilot province inspected by the CEPI, as the treatment group and uses the listed firms of the third and fourth rounds of inspected provinces as the control group. The difference‐in‐difference results show that the environmental information level and quality of listed firms in Hebei Province is improved compared with those of firms in other provinces, and the increasing effect is more significant in state‐owned firms, in developed regions and in regions where local officials have more promotion incentives. The results of this study suggest that the central government should establish a regular environmental inspection mechanism and coordinate it with the system of environmental decentralization in emerging countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Lingling Pan & Sheng Yao, 2021. "Does central environmental protection inspection enhance firms’ environmental disclosure? Evidence from China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 1732-1760, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:52:y:2021:i:3:p:1732-1760
    DOI: 10.1111/grow.12517
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12517
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/grow.12517?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hua Wang & Nlandu Mamingi & Benoit Laplante & Susmita Dasgupta, 2003. "Incomplete Enforcement of Pollution Regulation: Bargaining Power of Chinese Factories," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 24(3), pages 245-262, March.
    2. Zhang, Bing & Chen, Xiaolan & Guo, Huanxiu, 2018. "Does central supervision enhance local environmental enforcement? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 70-90.
    3. Rob Gray & Mohammed Javad & David M. Power & C. Donald Sinclair, 2001. "Social and Environmental Disclosure and Corporate Characteristics: A Research Note and Extension," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3‐4), pages 327-356, April.
    4. S. Zeng & X. Xu & H. Yin & C. Tam, 2012. "Factors that Drive Chinese Listed Companies in Voluntary Disclosure of Environmental Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 309-321, September.
    5. Rob Gray & Mohammed Javad & David M. Power & C. Donald Sinclair, 2001. "Social and Environmental Disclosure and Corporate Characteristics: A Research Note and Extension," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3-4), pages 327-356.
    6. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    7. Dasgupta, Susmita & Hua Wang & Wheeler, David, 1997. "Surviving success : policy reform and the future of industrial pollution in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1856, The World Bank.
    8. Fredriksson, Per G. & Wollscheid, Jim R., 2014. "Environmental decentralization and political centralization," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 402-410.
    9. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan, 2015. "The Economic Relevance of Environmental Disclosure and its Impact on Corporate Legitimacy: An Empirical Investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 431-450, September.
    10. Cheng-Li Huang & Fan-Hua Kung, 2010. "Drivers of Environmental Disclosure and Stakeholder Expectation: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 435-451, October.
    11. Sheng Yao & Shiyi Li, 2018. "Distance and government resource allocation: from the perspective of environmental information disclosure policy change," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(54), pages 5893-5902, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kopyrina, Olga & Wu, Kai & Ying, Zhanyu, 2023. "Greening through central inspection: The role of legitimacy pressure and risk-taking," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuan, Huaxi & Zou, Longhui & Feng, Yidai, 2023. "How to achieve emission reduction without hindering economic growth? The role of judicial quality," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    2. Ge Wang & Huijin Zhang & Saixing Zeng & Xiaohua Meng & Han Lin, 2023. "Reporting on sustainable development: Configurational effects of top management team and corporate characteristics on environmental information disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 28-52, January.
    3. Xiaohua Meng & Saixing Zeng & Xuemei Xie & Hailiang Zou, 2019. "Beyond symbolic and substantive: Strategic disclosure of corporate environmental information in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 403-417, February.
    4. Xiangan Ding & Ying Qu & Mohsin Shahzad, 2019. "The Impact of Environmental Administrative Penalties on the Disclosure of Environmental Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Sohanur Rahman & Tehmina Khan & Pavithra Siriwardhane, 2019. "Sustainable development carbon pricing initiative and voluntary environmental disclosures quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1072-1082, September.
    6. S. Zeng & X. Xu & H. Yin & C. Tam, 2012. "Factors that Drive Chinese Listed Companies in Voluntary Disclosure of Environmental Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 309-321, September.
    7. Barnali Chaklader & Puja Aggarwal Gulati, 2015. "A Study of Corporate Environmental Disclosure Practices of Companies Doing Business in India," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 16(2), pages 321-335, April.
    8. Rongbing Huang & Yubo Huang, 2020. "Does Internal Control Contribute to a Firm’s Green Information Disclosure? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Linyan Fan & Sheng Yao, 2022. "Analyst Site Visits and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-21, December.
    10. X. H. Meng & S. X. Zeng & X. M. Xie & G. Y. Qi, 2016. "The impact of product market competition on corporate environmental responsibility," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 267-291, March.
    11. Anna Jessop & Nicole Wilson & Michal Bardecki & Cory Searcy, 2019. "Corporate Environmental Disclosure in India: An Analysis of Multinational and Domestic Agrochemical Corporations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-33, September.
    12. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2013. "From Voluntarism to Regulation: A Study on Ownership, Economic Performance and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 217-232, August.
    13. Emerald Edem Welbeck & Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu & Rita Amoah Bekoe & John Amoah Kusi, 2017. "Determinants of environmental disclosures of listed firms in Ghana," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Parvez Mia & Tarek Rana & Lutfa Tilat Ferdous, 2021. "Government Reform, Regulatory Change and Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    15. Yang, Helen Hong & Craig, Russell & Farley, Alan, 2015. "A review of Chinese and English language studies on corporate environmental reporting in China," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 30-48.
    16. Cao, Feng & Peng, Songlan (Stella) & Ye, Kangtao, 2019. "Multiple large shareholders and corporate social responsibility reporting," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 287-309.
    17. Hongquan Chen & Saixing Zeng & Han Lin & Hanyang Ma, 2017. "Munificence, Dynamism, and Complexity: How Industry Context Drives Corporate Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 125-141, February.
    18. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam & X. Xu, 2013. "Whether Top Executives’ Turnover Influences Environmental Responsibility: From the Perspective of Environmental Information Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 341-353, May.
    19. Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & María J. Barroso-Méndez & María L. Pajuelo-Moreno & Julio Sánchez-Meca, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Performance: A Meta-Analytic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-33, February.
    20. Zhang, Bing & Chen, Xiaolan & Guo, Huanxiu, 2018. "Does central supervision enhance local environmental enforcement? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 70-90.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:52:y:2021:i:3:p:1732-1760. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0017-4815 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.