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Analysts’ Green Coverage and Corporate Green Innovation in China: The Moderating Effect of Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure

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  • Shiliang Hu

    (Department of Accounting, Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Wenhao Dong

    (Department of Business Administration, Business School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210012, China)

  • Yongchun Huang

    (Department of Marketing, Business School, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

Abstract

Against the backdrop of China’s growing environmental concerns, investing in green technology innovation is a crucial solution to achieve the goal of “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”. Combining the perspectives of signaling theory and corporate governance theory, we use a sample of Chinese-listed companies from 2008 to 2020 to investigate the influence of analysts’ green coverage (AGC) on corporate green innovation (CGI) and the moderating effect of corporate environmental information disclosure (CEID) based on a textual analysis approach. The results show that AGC can significantly promote the quantity and quality of CGI, and CEID has a positive moderating effect on the process. Moreover, the mechanism analysis reveals that enhancing investors’ value recognition, improving corporate reputation capital, alleviating corporate financing constraints, reducing management agency costs, and curbing managerial myopia are the influence mechanisms of AGC on CGI. Additionally, the positive effect of AGC is more significant for firms located in regions with a favorable institutional environment, firms belonging to heavily polluting industries, and firms that have not adopted continuous innovation strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Shiliang Hu & Wenhao Dong & Yongchun Huang, 2023. "Analysts’ Green Coverage and Corporate Green Innovation in China: The Moderating Effect of Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:7:p:5637-:d:1105386
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