IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v34y2025i1p450-467.html

Top management team stability and ESG greenwashing: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Bofu Deng
  • Zhenge Peng
  • Khaldoon Albitar
  • Li Ji

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between top management team stability (STMT) and ESG greenwashing. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies for the period 2009–2022, we find that top management team stability has a negative effect on ESG greenwashing. Mechanism tests provide evidence that top management team stability reduces greenwashing by decreasing agency costs and improving the quality of information disclosure. Additional analysis reveals that this relationship is more pronounced for firms audited by non‐Big Four firms, non‐state‐owned enterprises, and firms with high executive shareholding. The study combines the characteristics of internal human capital with the efficiency of market information, offering a new perspective in the literature on ESG greenwashing.

Suggested Citation

  • Bofu Deng & Zhenge Peng & Khaldoon Albitar & Li Ji, 2025. "Top management team stability and ESG greenwashing: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 450-467, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:1:p:450-467
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3998
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3998
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3998?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. Mary Tripsas & Giovanni Gavetti, 2000. "Capabilities, cognition, and inertia: evidence from digital imaging," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1147-1161, October.
    2. Li, Hao & Guo, Hui & Hao, Xinyao & Zhang, Xuan, 2023. "The ESG rating, spillover of ESG ratings, and stock return: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Fawad Rauf & Cosmina L. Voinea & Nadine Roijakkers & Khwaja Naveed & Hammad Bin Azam Hashmi & Tayyaba Rani, 2022. "How executive turnover influences the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure? Moderating role of political embeddedness: evidence from China," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 527-551, September.
    4. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    5. Guangrui Liu & Hao Qian & Yong Shi & Yu Zhang & Fengyuan Wu, 2024. "Does ESG report greenwashing increase stock price crash risk?," China Journal of Accounting Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 615-639, July.
    6. Christopher Marquis & Michael W. Toffel & Yanhua Zhou, 2016. "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 483-504, April.
    7. He, Feng & Ding, Cong & Yue, Wei & Liu, Guanchun, 2023. "ESG performance and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. Lin, Yongjia & Fu, Xiaoqing & Fu, Xiaolan, 2021. "Varieties in state capitalism and corporate innovation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    9. Silvia Ruiz-Blanco & Silvia Romero & Belen Fernandez-Feijoo, 2022. "Green, blue or black, but washing–What company characteristics determine greenwashing?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4024-4045, March.
    10. Wang, Juxian & Ma, Mengdi & Dong, Tianyi & Zhang, Zheyuan, 2023. "Do ESG ratings promote corporate green innovation? A quasi-natural experiment based on SynTao Green Finance's ESG ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjö Koskinen & Chendi Zhang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4451-4469, October.
    12. Chen, Shimin & Sun, Zheng & Tang, Song & Wu, Donghui, 2011. "Government intervention and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 259-271, April.
    13. Mark DeFond & David H. Erkens & Jieying Zhang, 2017. "Do Client Characteristics Really Drive the Big N Audit Quality Effect? New Evidence from Propensity Score Matching," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3628-3649, November.
    14. La Porta, Rafael, et al, 1997. "Trust in Large Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 333-338, May.
    15. Eun-Hee Kim & Thomas P. Lyon, 2015. "Greenwash vs. Brownwash: Exaggeration and Undue Modesty in Corporate Sustainability Disclosure," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 705-723, June.
    16. Barron, John M. & Chulkov, Dmitriy V. & Waddell, Glen R., 2011. "Top management team turnover, CEO succession type, and strategic change," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 904-910, August.
    17. Xue Wang & Feng Cao & Kangtao Ye, 2018. "Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reporting and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 253-274, September.
    18. Hu, Xinwen & Hua, Renhai & Liu, Qingfu & Wang, Chuanjie, 2023. "The green fog: Environmental rating disagreement and corporate greenwashing," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    19. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    20. Xi, Dan & Wu, Yuze & Wang, Xue & Fu, Zhe, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and excess perks," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    21. Soonchul Hyun & Jong Min Kim & Jeongsoo Han & Mark Anderson, 2022. "Female executive leadership and corporate social responsibility," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3475-3511, September.
    22. Gatti, Lucia & Pizzetti, Marta & Seele, Peter, 2021. "Green lies and their effect on intention to invest," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 228-240.
    23. Zheng, Zhigang & Li, Jiarong & Ren, Xingzi & Guo, Jie Michael, 2023. "Does corporate ESG create value? New evidence from M&As in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    24. McCarthy, Scott & Oliver, Barry & Song, Sizhe, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and CEO confidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 280-291.
    25. Ding, Jinxiu & Li, Lingxue & Zhao, Jinsong, 2024. "How does fintech prompt corporations toward ESG sustainable development? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    26. Amir Barnea & Amir Rubin, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Conflict Between Shareholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 71-86, November.
    27. Rania Beji & Ouidad Yousfi & Nadia Loukil & Abdelwahed Omri, 2021. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from France," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 133-155, September.
    28. Jiang, Zhiqian & Xu, Yue & Fang, Mei & Tang, Ziling & Tao, Chunhua, 2023. "How does the bond market price corporate ESG engagement? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1406-1423.
    29. Tim Loughran & Bill McDonald & Hayong Yun, 2009. "A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Use of Ethics-Related Terms in 10-K Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(1), pages 39-49, May.
    30. Hazarika, Sonali & Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Nahata, Rajarishi, 2012. "Internal corporate governance, CEO turnover, and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 44-69.
    31. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 2008. "Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    32. Clive Lennox, 1999. "Are large auditors more accurate than small auditors?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 217-227.
    33. Rajshree Agarwal & Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama, 2020. "Centers of gravity: The effect of stable shared leadership in top management teams on firm growth and industry evolution," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 467-498, March.
    34. Gao, Wei & Liu, Zebin, 2023. "Green credit and corporate ESG performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    35. Claire E. Crutchley & Jacqueline L. Garner & Beverly B. Marshall, 2002. "An Examination of Board Stability and the Long-Term Performance of Initial Public Offerings," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 31(3), Fall.
    36. James S. Ang & Rebel A. Cole & James Wuh Lin, 2000. "Agency Costs and Ownership Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 81-106, February.
    37. Mehran, Hamid, 1995. "Executive compensation structure, ownership, and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 163-184, June.
    38. Sonia Boukattaya & Abdelwahed Omri, 2021. "Impact of Board Gender Diversity on Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility: Empirical Evidence from France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, April.
    39. Lin, Justin Yifu & Li, Zhiyun, 2008. "Policy burden, privatization and soft budget constraint," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 90-102, March.
    40. Yue Wu & Kaifu Zhang & Jinhong Xie, 2020. "Bad Greenwashing, Good Greenwashing: Corporate Social Responsibility and Information Transparency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(7), pages 3095-3112, July.
    41. Mishra, Geeti & Patro, Archana & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2024. "Does climate governance moderate the relationship between ESG reporting and firm value? Empirical evidence from India," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 920-941.
    42. Kim, Eun-Hee & Lyon, Thomas P., 2011. "Strategic environmental disclosure: Evidence from the DOE's voluntary greenhouse gas registry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 311-326, May.
    43. Yasser Eliwa & Ahmed Aboud & Ahmed Saleh, 2023. "Board gender diversity and ESG decoupling: Does religiosity matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4046-4067, November.
    44. Jia Liao & Yun Zhan & Yu Yuan, 2024. "Top management team stability and corporate default risk: The moderating effects of industry competition and strategic deviance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(2), pages 809-827, March.
    45. Strong, John S & Meyer, John R, 1987. "Asset Writedowns: Managerial Incentives and Security Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(3), pages 643-661, July.
    46. Yao, Wenyun & Yang, Hang & Shi, Xiulian & Song, Zilong, 2024. "Top management team stability and debt concentration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    47. Zhang, Wei & Qin, Chu & Zhang, Wenyao, 2023. "Top management team characteristics, technological innovation and firm's greenwashing: Evidence from China's heavy-polluting industries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    48. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    49. Hua Feng & Ahsan Habib & H. J. Huang & Bao-Lei Qi, 2021. "Auditor industry specialization and stock price crash risk: individual-level evidence," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 427-453, July.
    50. 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.
    51. Luo, Chunhua & Wei, Dianlong & He, Feng, 2023. "Corporate ESG performance and trade credit financing – Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 337-351.
    52. Hanlon, Michelle & Rajgopal, Shivaram & Shevlin, Terry, 2003. "Are executive stock options associated with future earnings?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 3-43, December.
    53. Danting Cao & Yike Yu, 2023. "Top management team stability and enterprise innovation: A chairman's implicit human capital perspective," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 2346-2365, June.
    54. Shenghui Ma & David Seidl, 2018. "New CEOs and their collaborators: Divergence and convergence between the strategic leadership constellation and the top management team," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 606-638, March.
    55. Francesco Testa & Ivan Miroshnychenko & Roberto Barontini & Marco Frey, 2018. "Does it pay to be a greenwasher or a brownwasher?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1104-1116, November.
    56. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2011. "Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 3-41, March.
    57. Xiaomeng Chen & Xiao Liang & Hai Wu, 2023. "Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions and CSR Performance: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 255-288, February.
    58. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "How the Market Values Greenwashing? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 547-574, May.
    59. Li, Xiaorong & Wang, Steven Shuye & Wang, Xue, 2017. "Trust and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 74-91.
    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. Liang, Qianxu & Wang, Chaonan & Li, Yongping, 2025. "How does green finance influence enterprise greenwashing tendencies? Theoretical and empirical evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    2. Jiacai Xiong & Zelin Yang & Lijuan Xiao & Yushu Zhu, 2025. "Environmental judicial reform and corporate greenwashing: evidence from China’s environmental public interest litigation pilot," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Asif Ali & Bilal Haider Subhani & Shen Zunhuan, 2026. "The role of internal governance competence in mitigating ESG greenwashing: insights from emerging markets," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-32, December.
    4. Zhonghua Cheng & Guang Yang, 2026. "The influence of the Belt and Road Initiative on corporate ESG greenwashing," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 1-27, February.
    5. Yin, Chao & Wang, Anbang & Ma, Junqiao, 2025. "Substance over symbol: The disciplinary influence of Industry–University–Research Cooperation in digital transformation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PC).
    6. Wang, Menghan & Zhang, Yinglin & Gong, Xiaoxiao, 2025. "The impacts of social credit environment improvement on corporate ESG greenwashing: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(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. Deng, Bofu & Peng, Zhenge & Chan, Kam C. & Chen, Hongce, 2025. "Top management team stability and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    2. Francesca Bernini & Fabio La Rosa, 2024. "Research in the greenwashing field: concepts, theories, and potential impacts on economic and social value," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(2), pages 405-444, June.
    3. Birindelli, Giuliana & Chiappini, Helen & Jalal, Raja Nabeel-Ud-Din, 2024. "Greenwashing, bank financial performance and the moderating role of gender diversity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Jiang, Hai & Ning, Zhiyuan & Lin, Zhitao, 2025. "Does local government environmental target affect firms' greenwashing? evidence from listed firms in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. Xu, Shuai & Zhang, Suge & Cheng, Chen, 2025. "How does top management team recomposition affect corporate trade credit financing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Zhen Huang & Yanxuan Shi & Ming Jia, 2025. "Greenwashing: A systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(1), pages 857-882, March.
    7. Wei, Yufen & Tang, Jinghua & He, Hongbo & Wu, Chanjun & Lin, Muyangzi & Xie, Haonan, 2025. "Customer concentration and corporate greenwashing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Marco Ghitti & Gianfranco Gianfrate & Lorenza Palma, 2024. "The agency of greenwashing," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(3), pages 905-941, September.
    9. Li, Wei-An & Du, Hanyu & He, Feng, 2025. "Mandatory corporate ESG disclosure and default risk – Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Xin, Zhuoyao & Zhang, Zongyi & Xiang, Cheng, 2024. "Do suppliers value clients’ ESG profiles? Evidence from Chinese firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 241-258.
    11. Wang, Yuxi & Hu, Fangjia & Wang, Yunyun, 2024. "Analyst coverage and greenwashing: Evidence from Chinese A-Share listed corporations," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Zhang, Hua & Lai, Jie & Guo, Zheng, 2025. "When greenwashing meets ESG: Exploring the role of third-party ESG ratings in corporate greenwashing behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    13. Bu, Jun & Fei, Tianlun & Zhou, Futong, 2024. "United we stand, divided we fall: The impact of top management team stability on corporate litigation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    14. Lian, Yonghui & Yang, Zixin & Cao, Hong, 2025. "Does ESG performance affect trade credit financing? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Li, Suyang & Qiao, Lu & Ren, Boru & Wang, Zilong, 2025. "Financing sustainability: Sustainable institutional investors and bank loan access," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    16. Carlos Ignacio Gallo Aguila & María del Pilar Castro Arellano & Marco Antonio Rodríguez Vega & Eliana Maritza Barturen Mondragón & María del Pilar Quezada Castro & Guillermo Alexander Quezada Cast, 2024. "Trends in Scientific Production on Greenwashing based on Scopus (1990-2023)," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(4), pages 464-471, July.
    17. Guangrui Liu & Hao Qian & Qianqian Wu & Fei Han, 2024. "Research on the masking effect of vertical interlock on ESG greenwashing in the context of sustainable Enterprise development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 196-209, January.
    18. Bhullar, Pritpal Singh & Joshi, Mahesh & Sharma, Sharad & Kaur, Amanpreet & Phan, Duc, 2025. "Greenwashing and ESG: Bibliometric analysis and future research agenda," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    19. Shi, Xianwang & Ma, Jianteng & Jiang, Anxuan & Wei, Shuang & Yue, Leilei, 2023. "Green bonds: Green investments or greenwashing?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Yao, Wenyun & Yang, Hang & Shi, Xiulian & Song, Zilong, 2024. "Top management team stability and debt concentration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    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:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:1:p:450-467. 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://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.