IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v224y2020ics0925527319304049.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Legitimacy in operations: How sustainability certification announcements by Chinese listed enterprises influence their market value?

Author

Listed:
  • Feng, Yunting
  • Lai, Kee-hung
  • Zhu, Qinghua

Abstract

Sustainability certifications have been growingly adopted by enterprises with the aim to demonstrate their efforts on environmental and social operations management. Obtaining such certifications can increase enterprises’ legitimacy to meet the escalating public expectation for sustainable operations. There are studies examining whether sustainability certifications can benefit adopted enterprises, but not much is known regarding how the performance gains of sustainability certifications vary among enterprises operating under different institutional legitimacy conditions. We examine if Chinese enterprises announcing sustainability certifications as a legitimate action in operations can benefit them for better market value, and how the institutional legitimacy conditions can affect such effect. The institutional legitimacy is examined in two dimensions, namely sociopolitical legitimacy and cognitive legitimacy. The former is measured in two proxy variables related to the government: government ownership and political embeddedness, while the latter is measured in a proxy variable as sustainability communication frequency. Using 210 announcements from publicly listed enterprises in the Chinese stock exchanges regarding their sustainability certifications, we empirically investigate market reaction to the certification announcements on their stock performance considering the role of institutional legitimacy. Findings from event study analyses and hierarchical regressions indicate that announcing sustainability certifications is favorable for their performance in stock prices with stronger effects among enterprises having government ownership but with weaker effects for those having political embeddedness. Moreover, cognitive legitimacy brings no performance gain due to the announcements. Managers need to understand how sustainability certification announcements influence the market value of their enterprises and the performance implications of institutional legitimacy in obtaining the certification.

Suggested Citation

  • Feng, Yunting & Lai, Kee-hung & Zhu, Qinghua, 2020. "Legitimacy in operations: How sustainability certification announcements by Chinese listed enterprises influence their market value?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:224:y:2020:i:c:s0925527319304049
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2019.107563
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527319304049
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2019.107563?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pascual Berrone & Andrea Fosfuri & Liliana Gelabert, 2017. "Does Greenwashing Pay Off? Understanding the Relationship Between Environmental Actions and Environmental Legitimacy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 363-379, August.
    2. Ilya Okhmatovskiy, 2010. "Performance Implications of Ties to the Government and SOEs: A Political Embeddedness Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1020-1047, September.
    3. Donald Schepers, 2010. "Challenges to Legitimacy at the Forest Stewardship Council," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(2), pages 279-290, March.
    4. Graeme Auld & Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2010. "Transparency in Nonstate Certification: Consequences for Accountability and Legitimacy," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 10(3), pages 97-119, August.
    5. Chris K. Y. Lo & Christopher S. Tang & Yi Zhou & Andy C. L. Yeung & Di Fan, 2018. "Environmental Incidents and the Market Value of Firms: An Empirical Investigation in the Chinese Context," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 422-439, July.
    6. Kais Bouslah & Bouchra M’Zali & Marie-France Turcotte & Maher Kooli, 2010. "The Impact of Forest Certification on Firm Financial Performance in Canada and the U.S," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(4), pages 551-572, November.
    7. Lord, Michael D., 2000. "Constituency-based Lobbying as Corporate Political Strategy: Testing an Agency Theory Perspective," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 289-308, November.
    8. Frank Li & Tao Li & Dylan Minor, 2016. "CEO power, corporate social responsibility, and firm value: a test of agency theory," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 611-628, October.
    9. Mohammed Omran, 2008. "The Performance of State-Owned Enterprises and Newly Privatized Firms: Does Privatization Really Matter?," Chapters, in: José María Fanelli & Lyn Squire (ed.), Economic Reform in Developing Countries, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Hayam Wahba, 2008. "Does the market value corporate environmental responsibility? An empirical examination," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 89-99, March.
    11. Chong‐En Bai & Jiangyong Lu & Zhigang Tao, 2006. "Property rights protection and access to bank loans," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 14(4), pages 611-628, October.
    12. Nicky J. Welton & Howard H. Z. Thom, 2015. "Value of Information," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 35(5), pages 564-566, July.
    13. Petra Christmann & Glen Taylor, 2006. "Firm self-regulation through international certifiable standards: determinants of symbolic versus substantive implementation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 863-878, November.
    14. Michael Robinson & Anne Kleffner & Stephanie Bertels, 2011. "Signaling Sustainability Leadership: Empirical Evidence of the Value of DJSI Membership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 493-505, July.
    15. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Daouk, Hazem & Jorgenson, Brian & Kehr, Carl-Heinrich, 2000. "When an event is not an event: the curious case of an emerging market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 69-101, January.
    16. James Heckman & Salvador Navarro-Lozano, 2004. "Using Matching, Instrumental Variables, and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 30-57, February.
    17. Iannotta, Giuliano & Nocera, Giacomo & Sironi, Andrea, 2013. "The impact of government ownership on bank risk," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 152-176.
    18. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    19. Zhu, Qinghua & Li, Helong & Zhao, Senlin & Lun, Venus, 2016. "Redesign of service modes for remanufactured products and its financial benefits," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(P2), pages 231-240.
    20. Nan Sun & Aly Salama & Khaled Hussainey & Murya Habbash, 2010. "Corporate environmental disclosure, corporate governance and earnings management," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(7), pages 679-700, July.
    21. ChungMing Lau & Yuan Lu & Qiang Liang, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility in China: A Corporate Governance Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 73-87, June.
    22. Kerstin Lopatta & Reemda Jaeschke & Chen Chen, 2017. "Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Performance: International Evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3), pages 199-209, May.
    23. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Li-An, 2008. "Political connections, financing and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 283-299, October.
    24. Wesley D. Sine & Robert J. David & Hitoshi Mitsuhashi, 2007. "From Plan to Plant: Effects of Certification on Operational Start-up in the Emergent Independent Power Sector," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 578-594, August.
    25. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    26. Lord Michael D., 2000. "Constituency-based Lobbying as Corporate Political Strategy: Testing an Agency Theory Perspective," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 1-21, December.
    27. Chieh-Yu Lin & Yi-Hui Ho, 2011. "Determinants of Green Practice Adoption for Logistics Companies in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 67-83, January.
    28. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    29. Wenjing Li & Xiaoyan Lu, 2016. "Institutional Interest, Ownership Type, and Environmental Capital Expenditures: Evidence from the Most Polluting Chinese Listed Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 459-476, October.
    30. Du, Min & Boateng, Agyenim, 2015. "State ownership, institutional effects and value creation in cross-border mergers & acquisitions by Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 430-442.
    31. Wang, Qian & Wong, T.J. & Xia, Lijun, 2008. "State ownership, the institutional environment, and auditor choice: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 112-134, September.
    32. Ding, Li & Lam, Hugo K.S. & Cheng, T.C.E. & Zhou, Honggeng, 2018. "A review of short-term event studies in operations and supply chain management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 329-342.
    33. Goedhuys, Micheline & Sleuwaegen, Leo, 2013. "The Impact of International Standards Certification on the Performance of Firms in Less Developed Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 87-101.
    34. Chen, Yi-Chun & Hung, Mingyi & Wang, Yongxiang, 2018. "The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 169-190.
    35. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 235-267, January.
    36. Groening, Christopher & Kanuri, Vamsi Krishna, 2013. "Investor reaction to positive and negative corporate social events," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1852-1860.
    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. Lai, Kee-hung & Feng, Yunting & Zhu, Qinghua, 2023. "Digital transformation for green supply chain innovation in manufacturing operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    2. Nelson Oliveira Stefanelli & Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour & Lara Bartocci Liboni Amui & Jorge Henrique Caldeira de Oliveira & Hengky Latan & Pascal Paillé & Martin Hingley, 2021. "Unleashing proactive low‐carbon strategies through behavioral factors in biodiversity‐intensive sustainable supply chains: Mixed methodology," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2535-2555, July.
    3. Wang, Wei & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2022. "Does China's carbon emissions trading scheme affect the market power of high-carbon enterprises?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Vítor Silva & Vanda Lima & José Carlos Sá & Luís Fonseca & Gilberto Santos, 2022. "B Impact Assessment as a Sustainable Tool: Analysis of the Certification Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Feng, Yunting & Lai, Kee-hung & Zhu, Qinghua, 2022. "Green supply chain innovation: Emergence, adoption, and challenges," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    6. Ye, Fei & Ouyang, You & Li, Yina, 2023. "Digital investment and environmental performance: The mediating roles of production efficiency and green innovation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    7. Yu, Jie & Xiao, Shengsheng, 2023. "Project certification and screening in the reward-based crowdfunding market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    8. Yuping Deng & Yanrui Wu & Helian Xu, 2023. "Emission reduction and value‐added export nexus at firm level," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 1670-1710, June.
    9. Yuan Chen & Vinod Singhal & Qinghua Zhu, 2021. "Environmental policies and financial performance: stock market reaction to firms for their proactive environmental practices recognized by governmental programs," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1548-1562, May.
    10. Yuping Deng & Yanrui Wu & Helian Xu, 2022. "Emission Reduction and Value-added Export Nexus at Firm Level," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-19, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    11. Obiamaka Adaeze Nwobu & Collins Ngwakwe & Akintola Owolabi & Kingsley Adeyemo, 2021. "An Assessment of Sustainability Disclosures in Oil and Gas Listed Companies in Nigeria," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 352-361.

    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. Feng, Yunting & Tong, Xun & Zhu, Qinghua, 2020. "The market value of sustainable practices in the luxury industry: An identity mismatch and institutional theoretical perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Christopher Marquis & Cuili Qian, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: Symbol or Substance?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 127-148, February.
    3. Zhi Wang & Miao Yu, 2022. "Political embeddedness and firms' growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 127-153, February.
    4. Rui Wang & Yi-Na Li & Jiuchang Wei, 2022. "Growing in the changing global landscape: the intangible resources and performance of high-tech corporates," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 999-1022, September.
    5. Zhang, Min & Liu, Yaosong & Xie, Lu & Ye, Tingting, 2017. "Does the cutoff of “red capital” raise a red flag? Political connections and stock price crash risk," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 89-109.
    6. Fawad Rauf & Cosmina Lelia Voinea & Hammad Bin Azam Hashmi & Cosmin Fratostiteanu, 2020. "Moderating Effect of Political Embeddedness on the Relationship between Resources Base and Quality of CSR Disclosure in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, April.
    7. Sihai Li & Xianzhong Song & Huiying Wu, 2015. "Political Connection, Ownership Structure, and Corporate Philanthropy in China: A Strategic-Political Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 399-411, June.
    8. Zhe Li & Ping Wang, 2023. "Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 335-376, January.
    9. Ding, Li & Lam, Hugo K.S. & Cheng, T.C.E. & Zhou, Honggeng, 2018. "A review of short-term event studies in operations and supply chain management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 329-342.
    10. Kong, Dongmin & Cheng, Xu & Jiang, Xiandeng, 2021. "Effects of political promotion on local firms’ social responsibility in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 418-429.
    11. Qian, Xianhang & Zhang, Guangli & Liu, Haiming, 2015. "Officials on boards and the prudential behavior of banks: Evidence from China's city commercial banks," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 84-96.
    12. Fan, Jijian, 2021. "The effect of regulating political connections: Evidence from China's board of directors ban," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 553-578.
    13. Farman Ullah Khan & Vanina Adoriana Trifan & Mioara Florina Pantea & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Nouman, 2022. "Internal Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Chinese Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, February.
    14. Ding, Mingfa, 2014. "Political Connections and Stock Liquidity: Political Network, Hierarchy and Intervention," Knut Wicksell Working Paper Series 2014/7, Lund University, Knut Wicksell Centre for Financial Studies.
    15. Zengji Song & Abraham Nahm & Zongyi Zhang, 2015. "The value of partial state ownership in publicly listed private sector enterprises: evidence from China," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 336-353, September.
    16. Shen, Chung-Hua & Wu, Meng-Wen & Chen, Ting-Hsuan & Fang, Hao, 2016. "To engage or not to engage in corporate social responsibility: Empirical evidence from global banking sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 207-225.
    17. Farman Ullah Khan & Junrui Zhang & Nanyan Dong & Muhammad Usman & Sajid Ullah & Shahid Ali, 2021. "Does privatization matter for corporate social responsibility? Evidence from China," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(3), pages 497-515, September.
    18. He, Lerong & Wan, Hong & Zhou, Xin, 2014. "How are political connections valued in China? Evidence from market reaction to CEO succession," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 141-152.
    19. Xie, Sujuan & Lin, Bingxuan & Li, Jingjing, 2022. "Political Control, Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Case of China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    20. Kusnadi, Yuanto & Yang, Zhifeng & Zhou, Yuxiao, 2015. "Institutional development, state ownership, and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 351-359.

    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:eee:proeco:v:224:y:2020:i:c:s0925527319304049. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    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.