IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v244y2024ics0165176524004920.html

Government certified environmental labels and trade credit: Evidence from green factories

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Panni
  • Yao, Shouyu
  • Fan, Lin
  • Yin, Shihao
  • Du, Huibin

Abstract

Using novel data from a manually collected green factory list, our results show government-certified labels significantly enhance trade credits by reducing information asymmetry. Heterogeneity analysis reveals stronger effects in highly monopolized, low-reputation markets, where green certification provides a competitive advantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Panni & Yao, Shouyu & Fan, Lin & Yin, Shihao & Du, Huibin, 2024. "Government certified environmental labels and trade credit: Evidence from green factories," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:244:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524004920
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176524004920
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112008?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Casalin, Fabrizio & Pang, Gu & Maioli, Sara & Cao, Ting, 2017. "Inventories and the concentration of suppliers and customers: Evidence from the Chinese manufacturing sector," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 148-159.
    2. Ouyang, Caiyue & Xiong, Jiacai & Liu, Li & Yao, Jun, 2024. "Geographic proximity and trade credit: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Chen, Qi & Duan, Yongrui, 2023. "Impact of information disclosure on global supply chain greenwashing: Is more information transparency always better?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    4. Mohammed S. Albarrak & Marwa Elnahass & Aly Salama, 2019. "The effect of carbon dissemination on cost of equity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1179-1198, September.
    5. Sirui Wu & Guangming Gong & Xin Huang & Haowen Tian, 2022. "The Interaction Between Suppliers and Fraudulent Customer Firms: Evidence from Trade Credit Financing of Chinese Listed Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 531-550, August.
    6. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    7. Florence Depoers & Thomas Jeanjean & Tiphaine Jérôme, 2016. "Voluntary Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Contrasting the Carbon Disclosure Project and Corporate Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 445-461, March.
    8. Goss, Allen & Roberts, Gordon S., 2011. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1794-1810, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Javadi, Siamak & Masum, Abdullah-Al, 2021. "The impact of climate change on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Jiang, Wei & Yang, Wenbin, 2024. "ESG disclosure and corporate cost stickiness: Evidence from supply-chain relationships," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    12. Ding, Feng & Liu, Qiliang & Shi, Hanzhong & Wang, Wenming & Wu, Shan, 2023. "Firms' access to informal financing: The role of shared managers in trade credit access," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Ali, Ashiq & Klasa, Sandy & Yeung, Eric, 2014. "Industry concentration and corporate disclosure policy," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 240-264.
    14. Griffin, Paul A. & Hong, Hyun A. & Liu, Yun & Ryou, Ji Woo, 2021. "The dark side of CEO social capital: Evidence from real earnings management and future operating performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    15. Wenwu Cai & Xiaofeng Quan & Gary Gang Tian, 2023. "Local Corruption and Trade Credit: Evidence from an Emerging Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 563-594, July.
    16. Zhang, Yanlei & García Lara, Juan Manuel & Tribó, Josep A., 2020. "Unpacking the black box of trade credit to socially responsible customers," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    17. Umeair Shahzad & Jing Liu & Faisal Mahmood & Fukai Luo, 2021. "Corporate innovation and trade credit demand: Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(6), pages 1591-1606, September.
    18. Breuer, Wolfgang & Müller, Torbjörn & Rosenbach, David & Salzmann, Astrid, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility, investor protection, and cost of equity: A cross-country comparison," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 34-55.
    19. Dietrich Earnhart & Donna Ramirez Harrington, 2021. "Effects of audit frequency, audit quality, and facility age on environmental compliance," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(28), pages 3234-3252, June.
    20. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    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. Yu, Lianchao & Sha, Haobin & Ji, Peinan, 2025. "Government-led voluntary environmental regulation and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from the green factory certification in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. Li, Yafei & Zeng, James Si & Jiang, Shaoxiang, 2025. "Does environmental regulation complement ESG Disclosure? Evidence from the emergence of pollution emission permits regime in China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    3. Weining Wang & Qi Zhang & Jia Hao, 2024. "How Does Green Factory Certification Affect Corporate Sustainability Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Tan Liu & Yichao Liu, 2026. "Can Green Labeling Foster the Green Transformation of Manufacturing? Evidence From China's Green Factory Certification," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 47(2), pages 488-506, March.
    5. Dongsheng Guo & Jianda Wang, 2025. "From green factories to ESG performance: How policy incentives shape a new paradigm for corporate sustainable development," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(6), pages 1-33, December.
    6. Zou, Siqi & Li, Shan & Sowah, Joseph Sowahfio, 2025. "Organization capital and trade credit access," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    7. Guidong Zhang & Jianlong Wang & Jiaqi He & Yong Liu, 2025. "Can Voluntary Environmental Regulation Improve Corporate ESG? New Evidence From Green Factories in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(7), pages 9513-9539, November.
    8. Wan, Kai & Yu, Xiaolin, 2025. "Green structural monetary policy and firms’ Asymmetric carbon emission reduction: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1914-1928.
    9. Yongjun Chen & Wei Li & Longji Zeng & Min Chen, 2025. "Quality or Quantity? The Impact of Voluntary Environmental Regulation on Firm’s Green Technological Innovation: Evidence from Green Factory Certification in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-31, March.

    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. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Masry, Shadin & Masum, Abdullah-Al & Ouni, Zeineb, 2025. "Carbon risk and trade credit," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Fan, Lin & Wang, Jiali & Lin, Zhongguo & Du, Huibin, 2025. "Official environmental credit evaluation and corporate debt concentration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 104(PA).
    3. A. Hossain & A.-A. Masum & S. Saadi & R. Benkraiem & N. Das, 2023. "Firm-Level Climate Change Risk and CEO Equity Incentives," Post-Print hal-04434397, HAL.
    4. Cao, Feng & Li, Haitong & Zhang, Xueyan & Zou, Hong, 2026. "Preventive regulatory enforcement and access to trade credit: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    5. Jinyu Chen & Xinyu Guo & Yuan Geng & Ran Liu, 2025. "Climate risk and trade credit financing: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 2514-2535, July.
    6. Hossain, Ashrafee T. & Masum, Abdullah-Al, 2022. "Does corporate social responsibility help mitigate firm-level climate change risk?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    7. Zaman, Rashid & Atawnah, Nader & Banigidadmath, Deepa & Nadeem, Muhammad & Liu, Jia, 2025. "Do companies’ green credentials enhance trade credit provisions? Global evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    8. Karel Hrazdil & Deniz Anginer & Jiyuan Li & Ray Zhang, 2024. "Climate Reputation and Bank Loan Contracting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(4), pages 875-896, July.
    9. 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).
    10. Tang, Ning & Chang, Hao-Wen & Lin, Chih-Yung & Lu, Chien-Lin, 2024. "Public's evaluation of ESG and credit default swap: Evidence from East Asian countries," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. 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).
    12. Li, Haolin & Cheng, Sirui & Hua, Xiuping & Wang, Yong, 2025. "The mitigating effects of blockchain adoption on supply chain financing disruptions under crises: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(PA).
    13. Huang, Zhen & Dou, Tianyu, 2026. "The spillover effect of customer extreme climate risk: Evidence from supplier trade credit," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Hu, Haoshen & Lazar, Emese & Pan, Jingqi & Wang, Shixuan, 2024. "Environmental performance and credit ratings: A transatlantic study," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    15. Srivastava, Jagriti & Gopalakrishnan, Balagopal & Tharyan, Rajesh, 2024. "Product market shock, stakeholder relationships, and trade credit," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6).
    16. 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.
    17. Bardos, Katsiaryna Salavei & Mishra, Dev R. & Somé, Hyacinthe Y., 2025. "Firm-level climate sentiments, climate politics and implied cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    18. Yang, Yifan & Deng, Yi, 2025. "ESG rating disagreement and dynamic capital structure adjustment," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    19. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    20. Rahim, Noraimah Farah & Sulong, Zunaidah & Abdullah, Mohammad & Wali Ullah, G. M., 2025. "Geopolitical risk and firm climate change risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PD).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation

    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:eee:ecolet:v:244:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524004920. 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/ecolet .

    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.