Analysing and evaluating environmental information disclosure in universities: the role of corporate governance, stakeholders and culture

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Mauricio Flórez-Parra ◽  
Maria Victoria Lopez-Perez ◽  
Antonio M. López Hernández ◽  
Raquel Garde Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Actions ◽  
Determining Factors ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
The University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the internal and external factors related to the disclosure of environmental information in universities which reflect the actions carried out in these universities. Design/methodology/approach Taking as reference the first 200 universities in the Shanghai ranking, several factors associated with the degree of environmental information disclosure in universities – governance dimension, the relationship and participation of stakeholders, position and prestige as signs of the quality of the institution and cultural concern in the university’s country for the environment – are analysed. Findings The results obtained show that the size of the leadership team, stakeholder participation, the position of the university in rankings and cultural concern in the university’s country for the environment are determining factors in the university’s environmental actions and, consequently, in their disclosure. Other factors – such as the size of the university, the level of self-financing and financial autonomy – do not affect the disclosure of environmental information. Originality/value Scant research exists on the environmental commitments of universities; this paper aims to fill that gap. Their role as the main channel of research and as instructors of future professionals makes them points of reference in society. Research on university ranking has traditionally focussed on teaching and research results, but environmental issues are becoming increasingly important. This paper enumerates the factors that influence the dissemination of environmental information in the most prestigious universities. This research also provides an original approach by considering not only top-down but also bottom-up strategies through communication channels and the incidence of cultural factors.

Does policy uncertainty affect corporate environmental information disclosure: evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Pan ◽  
Qiuping Chen ◽  
Pengdong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Policy Uncertainty ◽  
Appraisal System ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether and how policy uncertainty affect corporate environmental information disclosure. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a difference-in-difference estimation and systematically investigates the relationship between policy uncertainty and corporate environmental information disclosure. The baseline regression results are robust to a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Findings The authors show that firms located in cities with stronger policy uncertainty disclose less information on environmental issues. Furthermore, this negative relationship is stronger in the Midwest and in pre-industrial regions and for stated-owned firms and firms in highly polluting industries. Practical implications This study argues that policy uncertainty reduce the corporate disclosure of environmental information. Therefore, the results provide evidence on how to better emphasize the importance of green gross domestic product in the performance appraisal system for officials. Social implications This study confirms that corporate environmental disclosure is a response to public pressure. The results encourage the government and the public to increase corporate awareness of environmental protection. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in the following ways. First, the authors provide a new perspective to study the relationship between policy uncertainty and corporate finance. Second, it contributes to the literature on corporate environmental information disclosure by linking policy uncertainty with firms’ disclosure of environmental information. Third, this study is a serious attempt to solve the problem of endogeneity between policy uncertainty and corporate environmental information disclosure.

scholarly journals Post-regulation effect on factors driving environmental disclosures among Chinese listed firms

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-495
Author(s):  
Kemi Yekini ◽  
Ismail Adelopo ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Surong Song
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Companies ◽  
Chinese Listed Companies ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure

Purpose The purpose of this study is to re-examine the factors that affect the level of environmental information disclosures (EID) following the issuance of the “Environmental Information Disclosure Guidelines for Chinese Listed Companies”. Design/methodology/approach The study is underpinned by stakeholder and legitimacy theories. Level of EID was measured for 100 Chinese companies using a scoring system and content analysis of their annual reports. The study explored the effect of ownership structure, managerial shareholding, economic power and industry classification on the level of EID using panel regression. Findings The study revealed that with clearly spelt out guidelines, Chinese companies are prepared to disclose environmental information regardless of their economic power. It was found that the overall level of EID in China remains lower than in developed economies. The findings are robust across several econometric models that sufficiently address various endogeneity problems. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing literature by using new and updated data to re-examine the factors that affect the level of EID among Chinese listed companies. The study is important and timely as it covers the period 2014-2016, which is after the Chinese Government strengthened the enforcement of EID. It highlights the effects of new regulations and underscored areas that still require government attention to foster effective environmental protection.

scholarly journals Multi-stakeholder perspective on the role of universities in place branding

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalini Bisani ◽  
Marcella Daye ◽  
Kathleen Mortimer
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Place Branding ◽  
Peripheral Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
Stakeholder Perspective ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
The University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual framework to demonstrate the role of universities as knowledge partners in place branding networks. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a case study strategy to explore the perceptions of institutional and community stakeholders in Northamptonshire. The objective is to examine the regional activities and engagement of a single-player university in a peripheral region and explore its potential for widening stakeholder participation. Qualitative data was collected through interviews and focus groups and thematically analysed. Findings The university played a complementary “partnership” role to other institutional stakeholders, particularly the public sector. As a knowledge partner, the university filled gaps in information (know-what), skills (know-how) and networks (know-who). The last two aspects are potentially unique to the university’s role in place branding networks and require further development. Research limitations/implications The conceptual framework demonstrates the potential of a single-player university in a peripheral region to enhance the capabilities and skills of stakeholders in place branding networks and widen stakeholder participation. Future researchers can use the framework to develop recommendations for universities’ role in place branding based on their unique situation. Originality/value There has been limited research on how universities participate and influence participation in place branding. The exploration of this topic in the context of a rural, marginalised region is also novel.

scholarly journals Does Internal Control Contribute to a Firm’s Green Information Disclosure? Evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongbing Huang ◽  
Yubo Huang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Green Governance ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Internal And External Factors

The literature shows that a firm’s environmental information disclosure is affected by internal and external factors. However, it is unclear whether internal control positively impacts a firm’s green information disclosure. We collected data from the period 2010–2016 from either environmental reports or the environmental section of social responsibility reports of A-share listed companies in the heaviest polluting industries of the Chinese capital market, 1603 companies in total, and established an evaluation index for measuring firm greenness. Our research indicates that the level of internal control was positively correlated to the firm’s greenness level, and deficiencies in internal control were negatively correlated to the firm’s greenness level, indicating that high-quality internal control improves company green information disclosure. Pertaining to property rights, the internal control of state-owned enterprises had a significant effect on improving the level of environmental information disclosure. Among five elements of internal control, the internal environment, information and communication elements had a significant positive impact on firm greenness. Compared with samples with uncorrected major deficiencies in internal control, rectified companies’ environmental information disclosure was greener. These findings provide empirical evidence for a comprehensive understanding of the non-financial reporting goals of firm internal control, and will become a useful reference for firm green governance decision-making.

Quality of environmental information disclosure and enterprise characteristics

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 963-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianshu Wang ◽  
Bo Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Disclosure Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure

Purpose Based on several important environmental protection and information disclosure policies that have been issued in China, the purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between characteristics and the environmental information disclosure quality of sample companies. Design/methodology/approach The OLS regression analysis is selected for this research which takes China’s heavy pollution companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2016 as samples. Findings The quality of these environmental information disclosures needs to be strengthened, and while the quality of the disclosures among the companies examined improved significantly in 2016 compared with 2015, there are still high variations in quality from industry to industry. In addition, the scale of company is most closely correlated to the quality of environmental information disclosure and the economic situation of the enterprises is the next. Other factors affecting the disclosure quality include in order the degree of local economic development the scale of the state-owned shares and the independent directors. Listed years and equity restriction show a positive correlation but not significant in statistics. Originality/value The research will assist administrative organizations to allocate governance sources effectively, plan governance investment as a whole, and improve the overall level of the disclosure of environmental information while strengthening the governance efficiency and effectiveness, according to the correlation and degree between the company characteristics and environmental information disclosure quality.

Political connection, political promotion and corporate environmental information disclosure in China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxuan Li ◽  
Christina W.Y. Wong ◽  
Xin Miao
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Rent Seeking ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Top Executives ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine how the political career concerns of top executives affect corporate environmental practices. Design/methodology/approach Based on rent-seeking theory, this work uses empirical analysis to investigate the impact of top executives’ political connection and political promotion on corporate environmental information disclosure (EID). Data were collected from Chinese listed firms in heavily polluting industries in the Shanghai Stock Market in 2014–2016. Findings The results reveal that the highly politically connected top executives are more likely to be promoted in their political positions than their counterparts. However, the firms under the management of these highly politically connected executives show low level of EID. The results suggest that the political motivations of top executives with political connection hinders corporate EID. Originality/value This paper extends literature system about the impact of executives' rent-seeking on corporate EID by examining the informal mechanisms in terms of political connection and political promotion. It provides insights for studies of corporate environmental strategies and governmental environmental responsibility.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document