IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4603-d1658113.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Environmental Information Disclosure on Corporate Sustainability: The Mediating Role of Profitability

Author

Listed:
  • Xinyue Wu

    (School of Law and Public Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 211544, China)

  • Wenqian Liang

    (School of Law and Public Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 211544, China)

  • Qinglei Ying

    (School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 211544, China)

  • Hongwei Dai

    (College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Flexible Electronics (Future Technology), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 211544, China)

  • Haixin Chen

    (School of Law and Public Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 211544, China)

  • Jie Jiang

    (School of Law and Public Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 211544, China)

Abstract

The Chinese government places significant emphasis on high-quality, sustainable economic development, with the value of environmental information becoming increasingly prominent. Corporate stakeholders are paying greater attention to environmental disclosures. This study analyzes data from Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2008 to 2023, exploring the relationships and influence mechanisms among environmental information disclosure, profitability, and corporate sustainable development through multiple regression models. The results indicate that environmental information disclosure promotes corporate sustainable development (with an effect coefficient of 1.441, p < 0.01), while also enhancing profitability (with an effect coefficient of 0.009, p < 0.01). Moreover, profitability serves as a mediator in the relationship between environmental information disclosure and corporate sustainable development (with an effect coefficient of 1.089, p < 0.01). These findings remain robust after a series of tests. Heterogeneity studies further reveal that the positive impact of environmental disclosure on corporate sustainability performance is more pronounced among non-state-owned firms and firms with high leverage ratios. Overall, the research findings help encourage enterprises to prioritize environmental impact, practice sustainable operations, and enhance profitability, long-term competitiveness, and market adaptability.

Suggested Citation

  • Xinyue Wu & Wenqian Liang & Qinglei Ying & Hongwei Dai & Haixin Chen & Jie Jiang, 2025. "The Impact of Environmental Information Disclosure on Corporate Sustainability: The Mediating Role of Profitability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-23, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4603-:d:1658113
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4603/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4603/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4603-:d:1658113. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.