IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0324596.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bank-firm relationships and corporate ESG greenwashing

Author

Listed:
  • Hongyu Liu

Abstract

This study explores how bank-firm relationships and executives with banking backgrounds influence greenwashing among Chinese A-share listed firms, based on Institutional and Agency Theories. Firms with bank shareholding or banking-experienced executives show a higher propensity for greenwashing, driven by executive compensation structures tied to inflated ESG scores. Financialization amplifies symbolic ESG disclosures, while transparency reduces greenwashing. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that non-state-owned enterprises and firms in less financially developed regions are more affected. These findings highlight the need for robust governance and transparency to promote authentic ESG practices, offering insights into mitigating greenwashing in emerging markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Hongyu Liu, 2025. "Bank-firm relationships and corporate ESG greenwashing," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(6), pages 1-24, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0324596
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324596
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0324596
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0324596&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0324596?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Dongyang, 2022. "Green financial system regulation shock and greenwashing behaviors: Evidence from Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Hu, Shuo & Wang, Ailun & Du, Kerui, 2023. "Environmental tax reform and greenwashing: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    3. Lynn Linghuan Wang, 2023. "Transmission Effects of ESG Disclosure Regulations Through Bank Lending Networks," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 61(3), pages 935-978, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. Liu, Jing-Yue & Lei, Quan & Li, Ruojin & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2024. "Resistance or motivation? Impact of climate risk on corporate greenwashing: An empirical study of Chinese enterprises," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Liu, Yeshen & Wang, Beibei & Song, Zhe, 2025. "Promoting or inhibiting: The impact of artificial intelligence application on corporate environmental performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Ying Zhang & Shouming Chen & Yujia Li & Disney Leite Ramos, 2024. "Does Environmental Protection Law Bring about Greenwashing? Evidence from Heavy-Polluting Firms in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-20, February.
    5. 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.
    6. Jiao, Anqi & Lu, Juntai & Ren, Honglin & Wei, Jia, 2024. "The role of AI capabilities in environmental management: Evidence from USA firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. 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).
    8. 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).
    9. Nepal, Rabindra & Deng, Youyi & Dong, Kangyin & Goutte, Stéphane, 2025. "Does executive gender diversity culture inhibit corporate greenwashing behavior? The effect of informal institutions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    10. Huang, Xiaowu & Li, Renzhi & Chen, Xingyu, 2025. "Does the green finance policy motivate firms to greenwash? A quasi-natural experiment based on the "Green finance reform innovation pilot zones"," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Jiang, Cuixia & Li, Xiuxiu & Xu, Qifa & Liu, Junhang, 2024. "Does environmental protection tax impact corporate ESG greenwashing? A quasi-natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 774-786.
    12. 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.
    13. Tan, Ruipeng & Cai, Qijun & Pan, Lulu, 2024. "Faking for fortune: Emissions trading schemes and corporate greenwashing in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    14. Li, Ziyang & Luo, Tao & Li, Jiangyi & Tian, Yihao, 2024. "Does social responsibility reform curb corporate greenwashing: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    15. Bai, Caiquan & Yao, Di & Xue, Qihang, 2025. "Does artificial intelligence suppress firms' greenwashing behavior? Evidence from robot adoption in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    16. Jiang, Cuixia & Xu, Jialin & Xu, Qifa & Fu, Weizhong, 2024. "Can we rest easy under the registration-based IPO reform? Evidence from the Chinese growth enterprise market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 990-1006.
    17. Gu, Leilei & Liu, Zhongyang & Xu, Danyang, 2023. "The risk-mitigating role of corporate social responsibility in Chinese listed heavy-polluting companies: An extreme event experience perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Zhang, Dongyang, 2023. "Does green finance really inhibit extreme hypocritical ESG risk? A greenwashing perspective exploration," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Wang, Xiaoteng & Zhou, Bole & Li, Xiaoling, 2025. "Qualified foreign institutional investors and corporate ESG performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    20. Hao, Xiaoli & Sun, Qingyu & Li, Ke & Li, Peilun & Wu, Haitao, 2024. "Does environmental decentralisation improve ESG performance? Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0324596. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.