IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v67y2024ipas0275531923002507.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of government environmental attention on firms’ ESG performance: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Xiaoqian
  • Cifuentes-Faura, Javier
  • Zhao, Shikuan
  • Wang, Long

Abstract

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) have been globally recognized as a pivotal driving force for achieving sustainable development goals. Extant studies have mainly focused on exploring its economic consequences, while evidence on how the public sector, especially local government, affects enterprises’ ESG performance is scarce. By manually extracting environment-related textual information from 2011 to 2020 urban government work reports, we quantify government environmental attention (GEA) and explore its impact on firms’ ESG performance. The result indicates that an increase in GEA enhances firms’ ESG performance. We confirm this finding using a range of robustness checks. Our mechanism analysis shows that GEA facilitates firms’ ESG performance by altering three environmental-related firm behaviors: green investment, environmental governance information disclosure, and green technology innovation. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that this positive effect differs in firm ownership, CEO experience, and factor intensity. Our findings provide insight for policymakers to propel firms to undertake more social responsibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Xiaoqian & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Zhao, Shikuan & Wang, Long, 2024. "The impact of government environmental attention on firms’ ESG performance: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:67:y:2024:i:pa:s0275531923002507
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102124
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531923002507
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102124?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fatemi, Ali & Glaum, Martin & Kaiser, Stefanie, 2018. "ESG performance and firm value: The moderating role of disclosure," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 45-64.
    2. Mengzhi Xu & Jixia Li & Zeyu Ping & Qianming Zhang & Tengfei Liu & Can Zhang & Huachun Wang, 2022. "Can Local Government’s Attention Allocated to Green Innovation Improve the Green Innovation Efficiency?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Broadstock, David C. & Matousek, Roman & Meyer, Martin & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility impact firms' innovation capacity? The indirect link between environmental & social governance implementation and innovation performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 99-110.
    4. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo & David Seidl, 2013. "Managing Legitimacy in Complex and Heterogeneous Environments: Sustainable Development in a Globalized World," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 259-284, March.
    5. Xueming Luo & Heli Wang & Sascha Raithel & Qinqin Zheng, 2015. "Corporate social performance, analyst stock recommendations, and firm future returns," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 123-136, January.
    6. Nurlan Orazalin & Mady Baydauletov, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1664-1676, July.
    7. Zhao, Shikuan & Cao, Yuequn & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Tan, Yan, 2023. "How does environmentally induced R&D affect carbon productivity? A government support perspective," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 942-961.
    8. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2014. "US Food Aid and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1630-1666, June.
    9. Tamas Barko & Martijn Cremers & Luc Renneboog, 2022. "Shareholder Engagement on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 777-812, October.
    10. Endl, Andreas & Tost, Michael & Hitch, Michael & Moser, Peter & Feiel, Susanne, 2021. "Europe's mining innovation trends and their contribution to the sustainable development goals: Blind spots and strong points," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    11. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Hakkon Kim & Kwangwoo Park, 2018. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility and the Cost of Capital: International Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 335-361, May.
    12. Aabo, Tom & Giorici, Iasmina Cristina, 2023. "Do female CEOs matter for ESG scores?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    13. Chen, Zhao & Kahn, Matthew E. & Liu, Yu & Wang, Zhi, 2018. "The consequences of spatially differentiated water pollution regulation in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 468-485.
    14. Yasir Shahab & Ammar Ali Gull & Asad Ali Rind & Aitzaz Ahsan Alias Sarang & Tanveer Ahsan, 2022. "Do corporate governance mechanisms curb the anti-environmental behavior of firms worldwide? An illustration through waste management," Post-Print hal-03602986, HAL.
    15. Mohamed H. Elmagrhi & Collins G. Ntim & Ahmed A. Elamer & Qingjing Zhang, 2019. "A study of environmental policies and regulations, governance structures, and environmental performance: The role of female directors," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 206-220, January.
    16. Jing-Wen Huang & Yong-Hui Li, 2017. "Green Innovation and Performance: The View of Organizational Capability and Social Reciprocity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 309-324, October.
    17. Samuel Drempetic & Christian Klein & Bernhard Zwergel, 2020. "The Influence of Firm Size on the ESG Score: Corporate Sustainability Ratings Under Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 333-360, November.
    18. Finja Lena Kind & Jennifer Zeppenfeld & Rainer Lueg, 2023. "The impact of chief executive officer narcissism on environmental, social, and governance reporting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4448-4466, November.
    19. Shan Huang & Yan Ding & Pierre Failler, 2022. "Does the Government’s Environmental Attention Affect Ambient Pollution? Empirical Research on Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, March.
    20. Wang, Yizhi & Lin, Yongjia & Fu, Xiaoqing & Chen, Songhe, 2023. "Institutional ownership heterogeneity and ESG performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    21. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1027-1047, September.
    22. Wang, Chang’an & Liu, Xiaoqian & Li, Han & Yang, Cunyi, 2023. "Analyzing the impact of low-carbon city pilot policy on enterprises' labor demand: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    23. Chitra Sriyani De Silva Lokuwaduge & Kumudini Heenetigala, 2017. "Integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Disclosure for a Sustainable Development: An Australian Study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 438-450, May.
    24. Fang, Mingyue & Nie, Huihua & Shen, Xinyi, 2023. "Can enterprise digitization improve ESG performance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    25. William Ocasio, 1997. "Towards An Attention‐Based View Of The Firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 187-206, July.
    26. Yan Xue & Caidong Jiang & Yunxia Guo & Jianmin Liu & Haitao Wu & Yu Hao, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and High-quality Development: Do Green Innovation, Environmental Investment and Corporate Governance Matter?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(11), pages 3191-3214, September.
    27. Mbanyele, William & Huang, Hongyun & Li, Yafei & Muchenje, Linda T. & Wang, Fengrong, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and green innovation: Evidence from mandatory CSR disclosure laws," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    28. Tan, Yafei & Zhu, Zhaohui, 2022. "The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers' environmental awareness," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    29. Arifur Khan & Mohammad Muttakin & Javed Siddiqui, 2013. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 207-223, May.
    30. ChungMing Lau & Yuan Lu & Qiang Liang, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility in China: A Corporate Governance Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 73-87, June.
    31. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone & Phillip H. Phan, 2012. "Corporate governance and environmental performance: is there really a link?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 885-913, August.
    32. Yueyang Zhao & Jinzhou Mao & Yueshan Li, 2022. "Local governments’ environmental emphasis and corporate green innovation: evidence from China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 2577-2603, November.
    33. Cedric Dawkins & John Fraas, 2011. "Coming Clean: The Impact of Environmental Performance and Visibility on Corporate Climate Change Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(2), pages 303-322, May.
    34. Wong, Woei Chyuan & Batten, Jonathan A. & Ahmad, Abd Halim & Mohamed-Arshad, Shamsul Bahrain & Nordin, Sabariah & Adzis, Azira Abdul, 2021. "Does ESG certification add firm value?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    35. Kim, Kihun & Kim, Tae-Nyun, 2023. "CEO career concerns and ESG investments," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    36. Alam, Md. Samsul & Atif, Muhammad & Chien-Chi, Chu & Soytaş, Uğur, 2019. "Does corporate R&D investment affect firm environmental performance? Evidence from G-6 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 401-411.
    37. Ding, Jian & Liu, Baoliu & Shao, Xuefeng, 2022. "Spatial effects of industrial synergistic agglomeration and regional green development efficiency: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    38. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    39. Husted, Bryan W. & Sousa-Filho, José Milton de, 2019. "Board structure and environmental, social, and governance disclosure in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 220-227.
    40. Shiyu Lu & Bo Cheng, 2023. "Does environmental regulation affect firms' ESG performance? Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 2004-2009, June.
    41. Nirino, Niccolò & Santoro, Gabriele & Miglietta, Nicola & Quaglia, Roberto, 2021. "Corporate controversies and company's financial performance: Exploring the moderating role of ESG practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    42. Xiao Li & Gang Liu & Qinghua Fu & Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman & Abdelrhman Meero & Muhammad Safdar Sial, 2022. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Impact on Corporate Risk-Taking? Evidence from Emerging Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-26, January.
    43. Cain, Matthew D. & McKeon, Stephen B., 2016. "CEO Personal Risk-Taking and Corporate Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 139-164, February.
    44. He, Feng & Qin, Shuqi & Liu, Yuanyuan & Wu, Ji (George), 2022. "CSR and idiosyncratic risk: Evidence from ESG information disclosure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    45. Bu, Maoliang & Qiao, Zhenzi & Liu, Beibei, 2020. "Voluntary environmental regulation and firm innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 10-18.
    46. Bai, Dongbei & Hu, Jin & Irfan, Muhammad & Hu, Mingjun, 2023. "Unleashing the impact of ecological civilization pilot policies on green technology innovation: Evidence from a novel SC-DID model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    47. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    48. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    49. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    50. Sabbaghi, Omid, 2022. "The impact of news on the volatility of ESG firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    51. Zhang, Dongyang, 2021. "Green credit regulation, induced R&D and green productivity: Revisiting the Porter Hypothesis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    52. Jianling Xu & Jiao Hong & Zhiyuan Zhou, 2023. "Local Attention to Environment and Green Innovation: Evidence from Listed Manufacturing Companies in 120 Cities in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 1062-1073, March.
    53. Kai Chang & Xiaochang Cheng & Yiran Wang & Qiming Liu & Jie Hu, 2023. "The impacts of ESG performance and digital finance on corporate financing efficiency in China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 516-523, February.
    54. Hui Situ & Carol Tilt, 2018. "Mandatory? Voluntary? A Discussion of Corporate Environmental Disclosure Requirements in China," Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 131-144, May.
    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. Rajesh, R. & Rajeev, A. & Rajendran, Chandrasekharan, 2022. "Corporate social performances of firms in select developed economies: A comparative study," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Liu, Xiaoqian & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Zhao, Shikuan & Wang, Long, 2023. "Government environmental attention and carbon emissions governance: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 121-142.
    3. Chen, Zhongfei & Xie, Guanxia, 2022. "ESG disclosure and financial performance: Moderating role of ESG investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Zhao, Yang, 2023. "Digital finance and corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Khan, Muhammad Arif, 2022. "ESG disclosure and Firm performance: A bibliometric and meta analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    6. Xiaoling Yu & Kaitian Xiao, 2022. "Does ESG Performance Affect Firm Value? Evidence from a New ESG-Scoring Approach for Chinese Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-40, December.
    7. Alan Kai Ming Au & Yi-Fan Yang & Huan Wang & Rui-Hong Chen & Leven J. Zheng, 2023. "Mapping the Landscape of ESG Strategies: A Bibliometric Review and Recommendations for Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Shoaib Aslam & Mohamed H. Elmagrhi & Ramiz Ur Rehman & Collins G. Ntim, 2021. "Environmental management practices and financial performance using data envelopment analysis in Japan: The mediating role of environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1655-1673, May.
    9. Wang, Kai & Chen, Xi & Wang, Chenye, 2023. "The impact of sustainable development planning in resource-based cities on corporate ESG–Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    10. Nurlan Orazalin & Mady Baydauletov, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1664-1676, July.
    11. Yu, Haixu & Liang, Chuanyu & Liu, Zhaohua & Wang, He, 2023. "News-based ESG sentiment and stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    12. Qian, Shuitu & Yu, Wenzhe, 2024. "Green finance and environmental, social, and governance performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 1185-1202.
    13. Zeng, Yongliang & Zhao, Xiangfang & Zhu, Yiwen, 2023. "Equity incentives and ESG performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    14. Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez & Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero, 2018. "How do Independent Directors Behave with Respect to Sustainability Disclosure?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 609-627, July.
    15. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Hanlu Fan & Jamie Ayers, 2023. "Corporate carbon assurance and the quality of carbon disclosure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 657-690, March.
    16. Muhammad Kaleem Khan & R. M. Ammar Zahid & Adil Saleem & Judit Sági, 2021. "Board Composition and Social & Environmental Accountability: A Dynamic Model Analysis of Chinese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-18, September.
    17. Tiago Cruz Gonçalves & Victor Barros & José Vicente Avelar, 2023. "Environmental, social and governance scores in Europe: what drives financial performance for larger firms?," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 121-131.
    18. Xiuli Sun & Cui Zhou & Zhuojiong Gan, 2023. "Green Finance Policy and ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-27, April.
    19. Jing Lu & Irene M. Herremans, 2019. "Board gender diversity and environmental performance: An industries perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(7), pages 1449-1464, November.
    20. 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.

    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:eee:riibaf:v:67:y:2024:i:pa:s0275531923002507. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    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.