IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/empeco/v69y2025i1d10.1007_s00181-025-02741-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The power of informal institutions: evidence from the impact of religious culture on corporate green governance in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lan Yang

    (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)

  • Yangyang Wang

    (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)

  • Huayan Geng

    (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

Apart from formal environmental regulations, religious culture is considered a crucial element of informal regulations affecting corporate green governance (CGG) practices. Diverging from literature examining the association between local religious culture and CGG, our study employs a novel instrumental variable, i.e., the number of religious sites by city in the Qing dynasty. This allows for the exploration of the causal impact of religious culture on CGG, specifically pollutant discharge fees (PDF) and environmental information disclosure (EID), using 848 Chinese A-share listed firms across 14 polluting industries from 2009 to 2018. Our findings illustrate that local religious culture reduces corporate PDF and heightens EID by firms. Furthermore, mechanism analysis unveils that (1) religious culture enhances CGG by fostering corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public environmental awareness; (2) a significant substitution effect exists between religious culture and environmental regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lan Yang & Yangyang Wang & Huayan Geng, 2025. "The power of informal institutions: evidence from the impact of religious culture on corporate green governance in China," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 213-261, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:69:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00181-025-02741-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-025-02741-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00181-025-02741-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00181-025-02741-0?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. Chen, Tao & Dong, Hui & Lin, Chen, 2020. "Institutional shareholders and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 483-504.
    2. Stefano Pace, 2013. "Does Religion Affect the Materialism of Consumers? An Empirical Investigation of Buddhist Ethics and the Resistance of the Self," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 25-46, January.
    3. Olivier Boiral & Nicolas Raineri & David Talbot, 2018. "Managers’ Citizenship Behaviors for the Environment: A Developmental Perspective," Post-Print hal-03795981, HAL.
    4. S. Brammer & Geoffrey Williams & John Zinkin, 2007. "Religion and Attitudes to Corporate Social Responsibility in a Large Cross-Country Sample," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 229-243, March.
    5. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    6. Bai, Caiquan & Liu, Hangjuan & Zhang, Rongjie & Feng, Chen, 2023. "Blessing or curse? Market-driven environmental regulation and enterprises' total factor productivity: Evidence from China's carbon market pilots," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Aerts, Walter & Cormier, Denis, 2009. "Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-27, January.
    8. Stephen Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Voluntary Environmental Disclosures by Large UK Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7-8), pages 1168-1188.
    9. Gruber Jonathan H, 2005. "Religious Market Structure, Religious Participation, and Outcomes: Is Religion Good for You?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-32, September.
    10. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    11. Stephen Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Voluntary Environmental Disclosures by Large UK Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7‐8), pages 1168-1188, September.
    12. W. Reed Walker, 2011. "Environmental Regulation and Labor Reallocation: Evidence from the Clean Air Act," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 442-447, May.
    13. Joseph S. Shapiro & Reed Walker, 2018. "Why Is Pollution from US Manufacturing Declining? The Roles of Environmental Regulation, Productivity, and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3814-3854, December.
    14. Alabbad, Amal & Al Saleem, Jafar & Kabir Hassan, M., 2022. "Does religious diversity play roles in corporate environmental decisions?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 489-504.
    15. Wang, Yi & Bramwell, Bill, 2012. "Heritage protection and tourism development priorities in Hangzhou, China: A political economy and governance perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 988-998.
    16. Roger Finke & Laurence R. Iannaccone, 1993. "Supply-Side Explanations for Religious Change," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 527(1), pages 27-39, May.
    17. Sriya Iyer, 2016. "The New Economics of Religion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(2), pages 395-441, June.
    18. Xingqiang Du, 2013. "Does Religion Matter to Owner-Manager Agency Costs? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 319-347, December.
    19. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    20. Corrie Mazereeuw-van der Duijn Schouten & Johan Graafland & Muel Kaptein, 2014. "Religiosity, CSR Attitudes, and CSR Behavior: An Empirical Study of Executives’ Religiosity and CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 437-459, September.
    21. Maretno Harjoto & Indrarini Laksmana & Robert Lee, 2015. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 641-660, December.
    22. Jinhua Cui & Hoje Jo & Manuel Velasquez, 2015. "The Influence of Christian Religiosity on Managerial Decisions Concerning the Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 203-231, November.
    23. Bala Ramasamy & Matthew Yeung & Alan Au, 2010. "Consumer Support for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The Role of Religion and Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 61-72, February.
    24. Olivier Boiral & Nicolas Raineri & David Talbot, 2018. "Managers’ Citizenship Behaviors for the Environment: A Developmental Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 395-409, May.
    25. Zhang, Guoxing & Deng, Nana & Mou, Haizhen & Zhang, Zhe George & Chen, Xiaofeng, 2019. "The impact of the policy and behavior of public participation on environmental governance performance: Empirical analysis based on provincial panel data in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1347-1354.
    26. Kung, James Kai-sing & Ma, Chicheng, 2014. "Can cultural norms reduce conflicts? Confucianism and peasant rebellions in Qing China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 132-149.
    27. North, Douglass C., 1971. "Institutional Change and Economic Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 118-125, March.
    28. Xingqiang Du & Wei Jian & Shaojuan Lai & Yingjie Du & Hongmei Pei, 2015. "Does Religion Mitigate Earnings Management? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 699-749, October.
    29. Jin Guo & Junhong Bai, 2019. "The Role of Public Participation in Environmental Governance: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-19, August.
    30. Alberto Bisin & Giorgio Topa & Thierry Verdier, 2004. "Religious Intermarriage and Socialization in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(3), pages 615-664, June.
    31. Bao, Qun & Shao, Min & Yang, Dali, 2021. "Environmental regulation, local legislation and pollution control in China," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(4), pages 321-339, August.
    32. Liu, Mengdi & Shadbegian, Ronald & Zhang, Bing, 2017. "Does environmental regulation affect labor demand in China? Evidence from the textile printing and dyeing industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 277-294.
    33. Lei Wang & Heikki Juslin, 2009. "The Impact of Chinese Culture on Corporate Social Responsibility: The Harmony Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 433-451, October.
    34. Kairui Cao & Weijie Jiang & Laiqun Jin & Yuanyuan Zhu, 2024. "Does Confucian culture reduce firms' pollution emissions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1838-1852, May.
    35. Riza Casidy & Denni Arli & Lay Peng Tan, 2024. "The Influence of Religious Identification on Strategic Green Marketing Orientation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(1), pages 215-231, November.
    36. Scott D. Dyreng & William J. Mayew & Christopher D. Williams, 2012. "Religious Social Norms and Corporate Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(7-8), pages 845-875, September.
    37. Thomas C. Omer & Nathan Y. Sharp & Dechun Wang, 2018. "The Impact of Religion on the Going Concern Reporting Decisions of Local Audit Offices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(4), pages 811-831, June.
    38. Juelin Yin & Yuli Zhang, 2012. "Institutional Dynamics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in an Emerging Country Context: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 301-316, December.
    39. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Yang Ni & Jeffrey Pittman & Samir Saadi, 2012. "Does Religion Matter to Equity Pricing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(4), pages 491-518, December.
    40. Jiang, Fuxiu & Jiang, Zhan & Kim, Kenneth A. & Zhang, Min, 2015. "Family-firm risk-taking: Does religion matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 260-278.
    41. Zolotoy, Leon & O'Sullivan, Don & Chen, Yangyang, 2019. "Local religious norms, corporate social responsibility, and firm value," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 218-233.
    42. Callen, Jeffrey L. & Fang, Xiaohua, 2015. "Religion and Stock Price Crash Risk," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(1-2), pages 169-195, April.
    43. Jonathan Gruber, 2005. "Religious Market Structure, Religious Participation, and Outcomes: Is Religion Good for You?," NBER Working Papers 11377, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Xingqiang Du & Yingjie Du & Quan Zeng & Hongmei Pei & Yingying Chang, 2016. "Religious atmosphere, law enforcement, and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 229-265, March.
    2. Alabbad, Amal & Al Saleem, Jafar & Kabir Hassan, M., 2022. "Does religious diversity play roles in corporate environmental decisions?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 489-504.
    3. Kun Su, 2019. "Does religion benefit corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1206-1221, November.
    4. Chuluunbat Tsendsuren & Prayag L. Yadav & Seung Hun Han & Seongjae Mun, 2021. "The effect of corporate environmental responsibility and religiosity on corporate cash holding decisions and profitability: Evidence from the United States' policies for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 987-1000, September.
    5. Nebojsa Dimic & Veda Fatmy & Sami Vähämaa, 2024. "Religiosity and corporate social responsibility: A study of firm‐level adherence to Christian values in the United States," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 396-413, January.
    6. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Ahmed Khamis Al‐Hadi, 2023. "Consequences of local social norms: A review of the literature in accounting, finance, and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 3-45, March.
    7. Jiang, Yan & Wang, Jiaxin & Huang, Yibo, 2024. "Does religious atmosphere affect enterprise digital transformation? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    8. Zhang, Yi & Liu, Chun, 2021. "Religion and unproductive entrepreneurship: The role of risk aversion," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Xingqiang Du & Wei Jian & Quan Zeng & Yingjie Du, 2014. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Polluting Industries: Does Religion Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 485-507, October.
    10. Lingyun Xiong & Lijuan Xiao & Min Bai & Yafeng Qin & Lijuan Yang, 2023. "The religion effect on corporate cash holding in China: Buddhism and Taoism," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 4420-4457, October.
    11. Shahid, Ahmad Usman & Patel, Chris & Pan, Peipei, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility, intrinsic religiosity, and investment decisions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    12. Feng, Yuruo & Hao, Wei & Fang, Jiali & Wongchoti, Udomsak, 2024. "In the radiance of enlightenment: The influence of nontheistic religions on corporate default risk," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Mansoor Afzali & Gonul Colak & Sami Vähämaa, 2025. "Climate Change Denial and Corporate Environmental Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 196(1), pages 31-59, January.
    14. Mehdi Khodakarami & Hassan Yazdifar & Alireza Faraji Khaledi & Saeed Bagheri Kheirabadi & Amin Sarlak, 2024. "The Level of Islamic Religiosity of the Local Community and Corporate Environmental Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from Iran," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 483-512, March.
    15. Rongjia Su & Dianjie Liang & Weili Teng, 2023. "The impact of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism on CSR practices in family businesses in China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1394-1417, September.
    16. Wang, Xiaoyu & Long, Zhineng & Zhao, Xiangfang, 2024. "Merchant guild culture and cash holdings: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    17. Guilong Cai & Wenfei Li & Zhenyang Tang, 2020. "Religion and the Method of Earnings Management: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 71-90, January.
    18. Xingqiang Du & Wei Jian & Shaojuan Lai & Yingjie Du & Hongmei Pei, 2015. "Does Religion Mitigate Earnings Management? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 699-749, October.
    19. Bo Xu & Linlin Ma, 2022. "Religious Values Motivating CSR: An Empirical Study from Corporate Leaders’ Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(3), pages 487-505, March.
    20. Kejing Chen & Wenqi Guo & Yanling Kang & Qingqing Wan, 2021. "Does religion improve corporate environmental responsibility? Evidence from China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 808-818, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Q59 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Other

    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:spr:empeco:v:69:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00181-025-02741-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.