IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v91y2024icp1123-1149.html

Common institutional ownership and corporate green investment: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Lu, Chao
  • Zhu, Tianqi
  • Xia, Xiaoxue
  • Zhao, Ziying
  • Zhao, Yiwen

Abstract

Corporate green investments are fundamental to environmental governance. However, studies have mostly focused on the impact of macro factors on green investment, while neglecting micro factors. This study explores the impact of common institutional ownership on corporate green investments. An ordinary least squares model is used to analyse data from A-share listed companies in heavily polluting industries from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. The results show that the proportion of green investments in enterprises with common institutional ownership increases, on average, by 0.045%. Importantly, the larger the number of common institutional investors and the higher their shareholding is, the higher the proportion of green investment will be. Mechanism tests show that the effect of common institutional investors on green investments is more pronounced for companies that are exposed to higher environmental risks and have fewer resources to implement green investments. Furthermore, a cross-sectional analysis finds that the effects of common institutional ownership are stronger for firms in post-green credit guidelines, industries with low green investments, and state-owned enterprises. Moreover, the effects are more pronounced for firms with common institutional investors who are stable and have a higher level of exit threat. Finally, common institutional ownership significantly enhances green innovation. This study advances research on the factors influencing corporate green investments and has important implications for emerging markets for enhancing corporate environmental protection and environmental governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Chao & Zhu, Tianqi & Xia, Xiaoxue & Zhao, Ziying & Zhao, Yiwen, 2024. "Common institutional ownership and corporate green investment: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1123-1149.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:91:y:2024:i:c:p:1123-1149
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.01.072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024000728
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.01.072?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. José Azar & Martin C. Schmalz & Isabel Tecu, 2018. "Anticompetitive Effects of Common Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1513-1565, August.
    2. Wang, Qijian & Zhou, Kaiguo, 2022. "Common ownership and the spillover effect of market reaction: Evidence from stock exchange comment letters," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Conghua Hong & Youliang Yan & Xinxin Zhang, 2022. "Does Entrepreneurs’ Military Experience Promote Corporate Environmental Investment? Evidence from Chinese Private Firms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Hariskos, W. & Königstein, M. & Papadopoulos, K.G., 2022. "Anti-competitive effects of partial cross-ownership: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 399-409.
    5. Andrea Pawliczek & A. Nicole Skinner & Sarah L. C. Zechman, 2022. "Facilitating Tacit Collusion Through Voluntary Disclosure: Evidence from Common Ownership," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 60(5), pages 1651-1693, December.
    6. Li, Xuelin & Liu, Tong & Taylor, Lucian A., 2023. "Common ownership and innovation efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 475-497.
    7. He, Jie (Jack) & Huang, Jiekun & Zhao, Shan, 2019. "Internalizing governance externalities: The role of institutional cross-ownership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 400-418.
    8. Ding, Qian & Huang, Jianbai & Chen, Jinyu, 2023. "Does digital finance matter for corporate green investment? Evidence from heavily polluting industries in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    9. Chen, Yangyang & Li, Qingyuan & Ng, Jeffrey & Wang, Chong, 2021. "Corporate financing of investment opportunities in a world of institutional cross-ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Li, Yukun & Zhu, Danfeng, 2022. "Share pledging and corporate environmental investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    11. Alex Edmans & Doron Levit & Devin Reilly, 2019. "Governance Under Common Ownership," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(7), pages 2673-2719.
    12. Li, Junrui & Liu, Lei, 2023. "Common institutional ownership and corporate innovation: Synergy of interests or grabs of interests," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    13. Jiang, Fuxiu & Cai, Wenjing & Wang, Xue & Zhu, Bing, 2018. "Multiple large shareholders and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 66-83.
    14. Ruichang Lu & Qiaowei Shen & Tenghui Wang & Xiaojun Zhang, 2022. "Frenemies: Corporate Advertising Under Common Ownership," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(6), pages 4645-4669, June.
    15. Kang, Jun-Koo & Luo, Juan & Na, Hyun Seung, 2018. "Are institutional investors with multiple blockholdings effective monitors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(3), pages 576-602.
    16. Yiwei Dou & Ole‐Kristian Hope & Wayne B. Thomas & Youli Zou, 2018. "Blockholder Exit Threats and Financial Reporting Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(2), pages 1004-1028, June.
    17. Jie (Jack) He & Jiekun Huang, 2017. "Product Market Competition in a World of Cross-Ownership: Evidence from Institutional Blockholdings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(8), pages 2674-2718.
    18. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2023. "Does common ownership constrain managerial rent extraction? Evidence from insider trading profitability," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    19. Cheng, Xin & (Helen) Wang, He & Wang, Xianjue, 2022. "Common institutional ownership and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    20. Peng, Zixuan & Sha, Haowei & Lan, Hongxing & Chen, Xudong, 2019. "Cross-shareholding and financing constraints of private firms: Based on the perspective of social network," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 520(C), pages 381-389.
    21. Wang, Kun Tracy & Sun, Aonan, 2022. "Institutional ownership stability and corporate social performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    22. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    23. Ping Jiang & Yunbiao Ma & Beibei Shi, 2022. "Common ownership and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 876-912, December.
    24. Xie, Xuemei & Zou, Hailiang & Qi, Guoyou, 2018. "Knowledge absorptive capacity and innovation performance in high-tech companies: A multi-mediating analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 289-297.
    25. Xiaojian Xiang & Chuanjiang Liu & Mian Yang & Xiaomeng Zhao, 2020. "Confession or justification: The effects of environmental disclosure on corporate green innovation in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2735-2750, 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. Zhang, Bingye & Zhao, Yiwen & Yang, Meng & Liu, Tingzhu, 2025. "Economic policy uncertainty and litigation risk: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Xiaoyu Chen, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and commonality in liquidity: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(2), pages 1635-1668, June.
    3. Qiu, Wenkang & Xiang, Cheng & Li, Chunhong & Chen, Yinong, 2025. "Institutional investor cliques and ESG performance: Evidence from Chinese firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. Meng, Delin & Li, Yanxi & Wang, Lan, 2025. "Foreign shareholders and the green internationalization strategy of enterprises: A response to the governance supervision and "locust invasion" perspectives," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1142-1158.
    5. Zeyu Wang & Qingze Wang, 2026. "Common ownership and corporate green innovation efficiency-based on a two stage value chain perspective," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, March.
    6. Dai, Jingwen & Xu, Rong & Zhu, Tianqi & Lu, Chao, 2024. "Common institutional ownership and opportunistic insider selling: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Wang, Zhiwen, 2025. "The impact of common ownership between banks and firms on corporate ESG performance: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Li, Xiao-Lin & Xia, Xiaolong & Ge, Xinyu & Si, Deng-Kui, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and the spillover effect of corporate innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    9. Yue Feng & Junfeng Li, 2025. "Driving Corporate Green Investment: Investigating the Role of Common Ownership Along the Supply Chain in Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-27, September.
    10. Liu, Yuya & Wang, Zhaoyang & Mai, Sheng, 2024. "Big data development and enterprise green innovation: Text analysis of listed companies’ annual reports," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    11. Li, Sijing & Yin, Yingkai & Jiao, Zeyan & Zhao, Qiuyun, 2025. "Financial investment and green development: How does financialization affect green total factor productivity?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Li, Ying & Zhao, Chen, 2025. "From shared stakeholders to strategic linkages: The impact of common ownership on supply chain diversification," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Wang, Ailun & Hu, Shuo & Zhu, Mei & Wu, Mingxuan, 2024. "Customer contagion effects of voluntary environmental regulation: A supplier green innovation perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    14. Fangfang Zhou & Lianghua Chen & Libin Zhao & Xiangfei Fu, 2025. "Governance or collusion? The M&A effects of common institutional ownership," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    15. Zhang, Han & Li, Minghui & Yang, Yujie, 2024. "Does common institutional ownership constrain related party transactions? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 1015-1042.
    16. Mao, Fengfu & Yuan, Yue & Zhang, Fan, 2025. "Firm-level perception of uncertainty, risk aversion, and corporate real estate investment: Evidence from China's listed firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1428-1441.
    17. Wenjun Su & Xiaohui Zhao, 2025. "The impact of common institutional ownership on green innovation of China’s energy firms," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    18. Zhang, Jiewei & Yang, Yi, 2025. "Environmental protection interview and corporate environmental investment: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(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. Liu, Xutang & Boubaker, Sabri & Liao, Jing & Yao, Shouyu, 2025. "The rise of common state ownership and corporate environmental performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(5).
    2. Xiaoyu Chen, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and commonality in liquidity: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(2), pages 1635-1668, June.
    3. Wenjun Su & Xiaohui Zhao, 2025. "The impact of common institutional ownership on green innovation of China’s energy firms," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Dai, Jingwen & Xu, Rong & Zhu, Tianqi & Lu, Chao, 2024. "Common institutional ownership and opportunistic insider selling: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Wang, Shuangjin & Zhang, Xiaoqian & Cebula, Richard J. & Foley, Maggie, 2024. "Cross-shareholding, Managerial capabilities, and Strategic risk-taking in enterprises: A game or a win-win?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    6. Jiong Wu & Lei Zhu & Yuheng Hu, 2024. "How does common ownership affect corporate innovation after succession in Chinese family firms? A perspective on value cocreation," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(12), pages 3515-3544, December.
    7. Zeyu Wang & Qingze Wang, 2026. "Common ownership and corporate green innovation efficiency-based on a two stage value chain perspective," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, March.
    8. Anting Li & Jianqiong Wang & Yaru Yang, 2026. "Dose common institutional ownership constrain tunneling?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1193-1228, April.
    9. Ning, Zihao & Xu, Zhibo & Zheng, Pengju, 2024. "The impact of common institutional ownership on financialization in non-financial enterprise: Exacerbation or inhibition?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    10. Zhang, Han & Li, Minghui & Yang, Yujie, 2024. "Does common institutional ownership constrain related party transactions? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 1015-1042.
    11. Xiaohui Wu & Yumin Li & Chong Feng, 2023. "Green innovation peer effects in common institutional ownership networks," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 641-660, March.
    12. Yao, Rongrong & Xiao, Min, 2025. "Common ownership and corporate violations: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Hamza Nizar & Taher Hamza & Faten Lakhal, 2024. "How does institutional cross‐ownership affect firm productivity? The importance of the corporate social responsibility channel," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 1988-2010, April.
    14. Xu, Zhibo & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Huang, Chia-Hsing, 2025. "Does institutional cross-ownership reduce corporate shadow banking activities? Evidence from Chinese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Zhou, Wei & Liu, Baohua & Chen, Tao & Chen, Yining, 2025. "Institutional investors' cross-ownership and internal control quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    16. Qian Ding & Jinyu Chen & Wu Chen, 2026. "Can Common Institutional Ownership Govern CSR Decoupling? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 204(2), pages 309-334, March.
    17. Hao Ding, 2024. "Can common institutional ownership inhibit the formation of zombie firms? Evidence from China," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 38(1), pages 34-56, May.
    18. Zhu, Siyuan & Lu, Rong & Xu, Tianli & Wu, Wenbin & Chen, Yang, 2024. "Can common institutional owners inhibit bad mergers and acquisitions? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 246-266.
    19. Wang, Jie & Chen, Liang & Li, Wanli, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and corporate trade credit," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Mou, Shaobo & Yi, Sijia & Zhang, Qiufeng & Liu, Danping, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and executive pay-performance sensitivity: Mediating role of information transparency and fund occupation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

    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:reveco:v:91:y:2024:i:c:p:1123-1149. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.