IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i10p2901-d233249.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

External Pressure, Corporate Governance, and Voluntary Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Pinglin He

    (School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
    Beijing Key Laboratory of New Energy and Low-Carbon Development, North China Electric Power University, Changping, Beijing 102206, China)

  • Huayu Shen

    (School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China)

  • Ying Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China)

  • Jing Ren

    (School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China)

Abstract

This paper uses manually collected data of carbon information disclosure for listed companies, from 2009 to 2015 in China, to measure corporate carbon information disclosure, and it explores the impact of external pressure and internal governance on carbon information disclosure through text analysis and a hierarchy analysis process. The results show that, firstly, the greater the external pressure is, the higher the level of carbon information disclosure will be; that is, when listed companies are state-owned enterprises or in heavy pollution industries, the level of carbon information disclosure is higher. Secondly, the higher the level of corporate governance is, the higher the level of carbon information disclosure will be; that is, when the board of directors is larger, the proportion of independent directors is higher, and the chairman and general manager positions are differentiated, the level of carbon information disclosure is higher. Furthermore, when listed companies are state-owned and in heavy pollution industries, the level of carbon information disclosure is higher; when the chairman and general manager are in the same position (lower governance level), the positive impact of government pressure on carbon disclosure is less significant, the positive impact of external pressure on carbon disclosure is less significant, and the positive interactive impact of government pressure and external pressure on carbon disclosure is less significant. The conclusions of this paper are still robust after Heckman two-stage regression, propensity score matching (PSM) analysis, sub-sample regression, and double clustering analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Pinglin He & Huayu Shen & Ying Zhang & Jing Ren, 2019. "External Pressure, Corporate Governance, and Voluntary Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2901-:d:233249
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2901/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/10/2901/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2016. "Board Attributes, Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy, and Corporate Environmental and Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 569-585, May.
    2. Girma, Sourafel & Gong, Yundan & Görg, Holger, 2009. "What Determines Innovation Activity in Chinese State-owned Enterprises? The Role of Foreign Direct Investment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 866-873, April.
    3. B. Korcan Ak & Panos N. Patatoukas, 2016. "Customer-Base Concentration and Inventory Efficiencies: Evidence from the Manufacturing Sector," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(2), pages 258-272, February.
    4. S. Zeng & X. Xu & H. Yin & C. Tam, 2012. "Factors that Drive Chinese Listed Companies in Voluntary Disclosure of Environmental Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 309-321, September.
    5. Sheng Yao & Haotian Liang, 2017. "Firm location, political geography and environmental information disclosure," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 251-262, January.
    6. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2013. "From Voluntarism to Regulation: A Study on Ownership, Economic Performance and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 217-232, August.
    7. Poh Wong & Yuen Ho & Erkko Autio, 2005. "Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from GEM data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 335-350, January.
    8. Ans Kolk & David Levy & Jonatan Pinkse, 2008. "Corporate Responses in an Emerging Climate Regime: The Institutionalization and Commensuration of Carbon Disclosure," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 719-745.
    9. Xueming Luo & Shuili Du, 2015. "Exploring the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm innovation," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 703-714, December.
    10. Kalok Chan & Albert J. Menkveld & Zhishu Yang, 2008. "Information Asymmetry and Asset Prices: Evidence from the China Foreign Share Discount," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 159-196, February.
    11. 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.
    12. Zhihua Cheng & Feng Wang & Christine Keung & Yongxiu Bai, 2017. "Will Corporate Political Connection Influence the Environmental Information Disclosure Level? Based on the Panel Data of A-Shares from Listed Companies in Shanghai Stock Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 209-221, June.
    13. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    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. Die Wu & Hafeezullah Memon, 2022. "Public Pressure, Environmental Policy Uncertainty, and Enterprises’ Environmental Information Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.
    2. Die Wu & Shuzhen Zhu & Aftab Ahmed Memon & Hafeezullah Memon, 2020. "Financial Attributes, Environmental Performance, and Environmental Disclosure in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Dwi Ratmono & Darsono Darsono & Nur Cahyonowati & Triana Chaerun Niza, 2022. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Accounting Disclosure, Corporate Characteristics and Governance: An Empirical Investigation on Indonesian Firms," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(6), pages 86-95, November.
    4. Chensi Guo & Wenyan Pan, 2022. "Research on Voluntary Carbon Information Disclosure Mechanism of Enterprises from the Perspective of Stakeholders—A Case Study on the Automobile Manufacturing Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Aitzaz Khurshid & Asif Muzaffar & Mohammed Khurrum S. Bhutta, 2021. "Institutional pressures and supplier involvement: a perspective on sustainability," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 123-137, June.
    6. Quanqi Liu & Li Li, 2019. "Spatial Heterogeneity of Government Regulation, Spatial Distance and Enterprise Carbon Information Disclosure: An Analysis Based on the Heavy Pollution Industry in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Melsa Ararat & Borhan Sayedy, 2019. "Gender and Climate Change Disclosure: An Interdimensional Policy Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-19, December.
    8. Franco Rubino & Francesco Napoli, 2020. "What Impact Does Corporate Governance Have on Corporate Environmental Performances? An Empirical Study of Italian Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-21, July.

    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. Rongbing Huang & Yubo Huang, 2020. "Does Internal Control Contribute to a Firm’s Green Information Disclosure? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Yanhong Tang & Xin Miao & Hongyu Zang & Yanhong Gao, 2018. "Information Disclosure on Hazards from Industrial Water Pollution Incidents: Latent Resistance and Countermeasures in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Shen, Huayu & Lan, Fengyun & Xiong, Hao & Lv, Jun & Jian, Jianhui, 2020. "Does top management Team’s academic experience promote corporate innovation? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 464-475.
    4. Ge Wang & Huijin Zhang & Saixing Zeng & Xiaohua Meng & Han Lin, 2023. "Reporting on sustainable development: Configurational effects of top management team and corporate characteristics on environmental information disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 28-52, January.
    5. Raquel Garde-Sanchez & María Victoria López-Pérez & Antonio M. López-Hernández, 2018. "Current Trends in Research on Social Responsibility in State-Owned Enterprises: A Review of the Literature from 2000 to 2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-21, July.
    6. Mahmoudian, Fereshteh & Yu, Dongning & Lu, Jing & Nazari, Jamal A. & Herremans, Irene M., 2023. "Does cost of debt reflect the value of quality greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts and disclosure?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    7. Hongquan Chen & Saixing Zeng & Han Lin & Hanyang Ma, 2017. "Munificence, Dynamism, and Complexity: How Industry Context Drives Corporate Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 125-141, February.
    8. Xiaowei Rose Luo & Danqing Wang, 2021. "Are Politically Endorsed Firms More Socially Responsible? Selective Engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 535-555, May.
    9. Liu, Xinghe & Xu, Huifeng & Lu, Meiting, 2021. "Do auditors respond to stringent environmental regulation? Evidence from China’s new environmental protection law," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 54-67.
    10. Li, Qiang & Wang, Shengying & He, Zichun & Li, Hanqiao & Xiang, Erwei, 2023. "Does stock market index adjustment affect environmental information disclosure? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. H. L. Zou & R. C. Zeng & S. X. Zeng & Jonathan J. Shi, 2015. "How Do Environmental Violation Events Harm Corporate Reputation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 836-854, December.
    12. Yuxuan Li & Xin Miao & Dequan Zheng & Yanhong Tang, 2019. "Corporate Public Transparency on Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Political Embeddedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, October.
    13. Muddassar Sarfraz & Syed G. M. Shah & Zeeshan Fareed & Farrukh Shahzad, 2020. "Demonstrating the interconnection of hierarchical order disturbances in CEO succession with corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2956-2971, November.
    14. Chen, Hongtao & Fang, Xiumei & Xiang, Erwei & Ji, Xiaojia & An, Maolin, 2023. "Do online media and investor attention affect corporate environmental information disclosure？Evidence from Chinese listed companies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1022-1040.
    15. X. D. Xu & S. X. Zeng & H. L. Zou & Jonathan J. Shi, 2016. "The Impact of Corporate Environmental Violation on Shareholders' Wealth: a Perspective Taken from Media Coverage," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 73-91, February.
    16. Mumtaheena Anwar & Sohanur Rahman & Md. Nurul Kabir, 2021. "Does national carbon pricing policy affect voluntary environmental disclosures? A global evidence," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(2), pages 211-244, April.
    17. Shilei Hu & Xiaohong Wang, 2021. "The Origin of Proactive Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (ECSR) of Large Firms: Institutional Embeddedness—Driven, Family Involvement-Promoted, or Resource-Dependent?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, January.
    18. Linyan Fan & Sheng Yao, 2022. "Analyst Site Visits and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-21, December.
    19. Xiaopeng Wang & Xueyao Shen & Yongliang Yang, 2020. "Does Environmental Information Disclosure Make Firms’ Investments More Efficient? Evidence from Measure 2007 of Chinese A-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, March.
    20. Mahmoudian, Fereshteh & Lu, Jing & Yu, Dongning & Nazari, Jamal A. & Herremans, Irene M., 2021. "Inter-and intra-organizational stakeholder arrangements in carbon management accounting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2901-:d:233249. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.