IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v55y2023ipbs1544612323003884.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media attention and corporate greenwashing behavior: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yue, Jun
  • Li, Yilin

Abstract

This study examines the impact of media attention on corporate green drift behavior and the mediating role of executive risk preferences in it. This study examines the green innovation of firms using A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2021 as the research sample. It is empirically tested that media attention significantly inhibits corporate greenwashing behavior, and executive risk preferences positively reinforce this inhibitory effect. The findings provide a new perspective for preventing corporate greenwash initiatives, which, together with a moderate increase in executive risk-taking, has practical implications for promoting the high-quality development of corporate green ecological civilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Yue, Jun & Li, Yilin, 2023. "Media attention and corporate greenwashing behavior: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:55:y:2023:i:pb:s1544612323003884
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2023.104016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612323003884
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2023.104016?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. Jiraporn, Pornsit & Lee, Sang Mook & Shim, Hyeongsop, 2022. "Does social capital influence executive risk-taking incentives?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    2. Hao, Jing & He, Feng, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    3. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    4. Kriechel, Ben & Ziesemer, Thomas, 2003. "The Environmental Porter Hypothesis as a Technology Adoption Problem?," Research Memorandum 011, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. repec:dgr:umamer:2003011 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Jyri Kinnunen & Minna Martikainen, 2017. "Expected Returns and Idiosyncratic Risk: Industry-Level Evidence from Russia," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 2528-2544, November.
    7. Ben Kriechel & Thomas Ziesemer, 2009. "The environmental Porter hypothesis: theory, evidence, and a model of timing of adoption," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 267-294.
    8. Zhang, Qi & Yu, Zhi & Kong, Dongmin, 2019. "The real effect of legal institutions: Environmental courts and firm environmental protection expenditure," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    9. Gaowen Kong & Jiating Huang & Shasha Liu, 2023. "Digital Transformation and Within-Firm Pay Gap: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 1748-1766, May.
    10. Hongfeng Sun & Chang Liu, 2023. "Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Corporate Environmental Performance: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Guidolin, Massimo & Pedio, Manuela, 2021. "Media Attention vs. Sentiment as Drivers of Conditional Volatility Predictions: An Application to Brexit," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    12. repec:dgr:umamer:2005008 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Kong, Gaowen & Xu, Li & Zhang, Wenzhe, 2022. "The benevolence of the billionaires: Evidence from China's Hurun rich list1," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    14. Glen Dowell & Stuart Hart & Bernard Yeung, 2000. "Do Corporate Global Environmental Standards Create or Destroy Market Value?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(8), pages 1059-1074, August.
    15. Zhengxia He & Changshuai Cao & Chao Feng, 2022. "Media Attention, Environmental Information Disclosure and Corporate Green Technology Innovations in China’s Heavily Polluting Industries," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(14), pages 3939-3952, November.
    16. repec:ner:maastr:urn:nbn:nl:ui:27-19334 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:dgr:unumer:2007024 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Li, Zhenghui & Huang, Zimei & Su, Yaya, 2023. "New media environment, environmental regulation and corporate green technology innovation:Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    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. Zhang, Qixin & Xiang, Zhiqiang & Xiang, Zhiguo, 2025. "New media supervision, digital transformation, and corporate green investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Li, Weiping & Mao, Zhuowei & Ren, Xiaohang & Liang, Jing, 2025. "Retail investor attention: Guardian of corporate ESG integrity or catalyst for greenwashing?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    3. Li, Weiping & Shi, Chang & Xiao, Zhongyi & Zhang, Xuezhi, 2024. "Bridging the green gap: How digital financial inclusion affects corporate ESG greenwashing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    4. Kesen Zhang & Bilal Ahmed & Ruping Wang & Baoying Gu, 2025. "The Influence of Internal Governance and External Legitimacy on Greenwashing: A Digitalization Perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 4881-4909, February.
    5. 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).
    6. Zhang, Mengzhi & He, Wenjian, 2025. "Encouraging or inhibiting: Can analyst attention reduce corporate greenwashing behavior?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 943-962.
    7. Tielong Wu, 2024. "Green finance reform policy increases corporate hypocritical business strategies: Evidence from the greenwashing behavior," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 29(7), pages 1-28, October.
    8. Liao, Zhaoguang & Xiao, Luan, 2025. "Government environmental regulation, media attention, and corporate green innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Lu, Zhenye & Lin, Yongjia & Li, You, 2023. "Does corporate engagement in digital transformation influence greenwashing? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    10. Jian Zhou & Xiaodong Lei & Jianglong Yu, 2024. "ESG rating divergence and corporate green innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2911-2930, May.
    11. Tian Luan, 2024. "A Review of Corporate Social Responsibility Decoupling and Its Impact: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, May.
    12. Zhi Yang & Xiaoyu Zha, 2025. "How Do Environmental Regulation and Media Pressure Influence Greenwashing Behaviors in Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-25, May.
    13. Li, Tinghui & Shu, Xin & Liao, Gaoke, 2024. "Does corporate greenwashing affect investors' decisions?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    14. Xue, Kunkun & Chen, Xiaoxiao & Sun, Peipei & Li, Yongqing, 2024. "Supply chain network centrality and corporate greenwashing behavior," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Wang, Yao, 2025. "Greenwashing or green evolution: Can transition finance empower green innovation in carbon-intensive enterprise?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    16. Kaile Li & Tzu-Yu Lin & Guifang Zhu, 2024. "The effect of CEO’s compensation in driving corporate ESG greenwashing: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(10), pages 1-22, October.
    17. Fan, Xiaoyun & Shen, Xinyan & Wang, Daoping & Zhou, Cier, 2025. "The Paris Agreement and firms’ carbon information disclosure: Honesty or catering?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    18. Jin, Yousen & Li, He & Lu, Juan, 2024. "How does energy policy uncertainty perception affect corporate greenwashing behaviors? Evidence from China's energy companies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    19. Yin, Lei & Yang, Yuanyuan, 2024. "How does digital finance influence corporate greenwashing behavior?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 359-373.
    20. Sun, Jianhua & Hou, Shaobo & Deng, Yuxia & Li, Huaicheng, 2024. "New media environment, green technological innovation and corporate productivity: Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    21. Tang, Weiran & Tang, Maolin, 2025. "Media attention, internal control quality, and legal litigation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    22. Peng Wan & Mengjiao Xu & Yu Yang & Xiangyu Chen, 2024. "CSR decoupling and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    23. Li, Menghan & Chen, Qi, 2024. "Executive pay gap and corporate ESG greenwashing: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).

    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. Xie, Jiayue & Chen, Lu & Liu, Yan & Wang, Shengnan, 2023. "Does fintech inhibit corporate greenwashing behavior?-Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    2. Zhang, Qixin & Xiang, Zhiqiang, 2024. "New media surveillance, environmental information uncertainty and corporate environmental information disclosure," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Da Gao & Chang Liu & Xinyan Wei & Yang Liu, 2023. "Can River Chief System Policy Improve Enterprises’ Energy Efficiency? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Han, Lei & Xiao, Zijun & Yu, Yongze, 2024. "Environmental judicature and enterprises’ green technology innovation: A revisit of the porter hypothesis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Zhao, Yujie & Yang, Yuanyuan & Hua, Min & Chan, Kam C., 2024. "Social credit scoring system and corporate pollution governance: Insights from China's Social Credit System Construction," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    6. Yang, Jingyi & Shi, Daqian & Yang, Wenbo, 2022. "Stringent environmental regulation and capital structure: The effect of NEPL on deleveraging the high polluting firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 643-656.
    7. Su, Xuewei & Wang, Kaike, 2025. "Carbon dioxide emission reduction effects of non-economic sector tournaments: Evidence from the national civilized city selection," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Li, Ranran & Li, Yue & Chen, Xueli & Wu, Jian & Song, Malin & Zhou, Yuanxiang, 2025. "Enterprise performance empowered by heterogeneous environmental laws: A digital economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    9. Xu, Ye & Wen, Shuang & Tao, Chang-Qi, 2023. "Impact of environmental tax on pollution control: A sustainable development perspective," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 89-106.
    10. Yu, Lianchao & Liu, Donghui & Liu, Qiang & Han, Hongling, 2025. "De-localization of environmental governance and corporate innovation structure: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    11. Wenbin Long & Le Luo & Hongfeng Sun & Qiqi Zhong, 2023. "Does going abroad lead to going green? Firm outward foreign direct investment and domestic environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 484-498, January.
    12. Zhang, Jingxue & Yu, Shiwei & Zhang, Yue-Jun & Su, Bin & Sun, Ya-Fang, 2025. "How do renewable energy policies affect energy green development? Evidence from Chinese listed energy firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    13. Chen, Yinghui & Tong, Ying & Zhou, Can, 2024. "Non-mandatory approaches to corporate environmental engagement: Insights from the Belt and Road Initiative," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1287-1301.
    14. He, Weimin & Wang, Bin, 2024. "Environmental jurisdiction and energy efficiency: Evidence from China's establishment of environmental courts," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    15. Zhou, Kuo & Luo, Haotian & Ye, Diyu & Tao, Yunqing, 2022. "The power of anti-corruption in environmental innovation: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    16. Xiong, Jiacai & Yang, Zelin & Wang, Qing Sophie, 2025. "Can non-punitive regulation curb corporate greenwashing?Evidence from a word embedding model," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    17. Xu, Yang & Huang, Wei & Zhang, Cherry Yi, 2024. "Navigating international competition with ESG: Insights from the US-China trade war," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    18. Sheng, Yan & Wang, Shuai & Wang, Yanan, 2024. "Doing good in times of need: Green finance policy and strategic corporate social responsibility," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1029-1045.
    19. Yu, Lianchao & Sha, Haobin & Liu, Qiang & Yan, Guowan, 2024. "Environmental judicial independence and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    20. Hailan Yang & Xiangjiao Shi & Syed Ghulam Meran Shah, 2024. "Can heterogeneous media attention invigorate green technological innovation: A moderating role of chief executive officer narcissism," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 3804-3822, September.

    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:finlet:v:55:y:2023:i:pb:s1544612323003884. 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/frl .

    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.