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 The Determinants of Environmental Disclosure Quality: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Pricilia Angela ◽  
Sofik Handoyo
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Disclosure Quality ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
The Relationship

Sustainability issues have increased the need for stakeholder toward environmental information disclosure. Quality of environmental information is pivotal for stakeholders to make a proper assessment of a firm’s environmental performance. This study examines the relationship between a firm’s characteristics and environmental disclosure quality. Firm’s characteristics in this study refer to the size, ownership concentration, age, and leverage. Content analysis of sustainability reporting was applied in this study. The study involved 33 listed firms in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) that are consistently issued sustainability reporting during 2014-2016. Simultaneously test indicated that characteristics of the firm significantly explain the variance of environmental disclosure quality. However, partially test showed that leverage is the only variable significantly influenced environmental disclosure quality. 

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.

scholarly journals NÍVEL DE EVIDENCIAÇÃO AMBIENTAL E DESEMPENHO ECONÔMICO DE EMPRESAS: APLICANDO A ANÁLISE ENVOLTÓRIA DE DADOS

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-226
Author(s):  
Ilse Maria Beuren ◽  
Sabrina Do Nascimento ◽  
Irani Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Complete Information ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Relationship

The study poses to investigate the relationship between the level of environmental disclosure and economic performance of open capital companies as classified by the Você S/A – As Melhores Empresas para Você Trabalhar (The Best Companies to Work) guide. A descriptive study, employing a quantitative approach, was conducted via documental analysis of financial statements of the therein featured, 21 open capital companies. Survey results evidence that: a) in the environmental disclosure categorization, 680 data entries were found, ranging from 99 deemed complete information, 126 as incomplete and 455 absent; b) in terms of environmental disclosure score levels, 55% of the companies were graded as unsatisfactory, 35% regular and 9% good; and c) the relationship between corporate environmental disclosure levels and economic performance revealed bleak correlation. Thus, once employing the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology, the study concludes that not all companies that presented higher environmental information disclosure levels attained efficient economic performance.

Help or resistance? Product market competition and water information disclosure: evidence from China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 933-962
Author(s):  
Zhifang Zhou ◽  
Tao Zhang ◽  
Jiachun Chen ◽  
Huixiang Zeng ◽  
Xiaohong Chen
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Product Market ◽  
Product Market Competition ◽  
Competition Intensity ◽  
Ownership Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industry Competition ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper investigates the relationship between product market competition and firms’ water information disclosure and how firms’ ownership type can affect this relationship in China, offering new insights into corporate water management. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigated 303 Chinese listed companies in highly water-sensitive industries to examine how product market competition influences corporate water information disclosure by subdividing the product market competition into market competition at the firm level and the industry competition intensity at the industry level. Findings The results show that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between industry competition and water information disclosure; enterprises with the highest market power in a mildly competitive industry are more willing to voluntarily disclose water information and play an industry benchmarking role. Further tests demonstrate that the relationship between industry competition intensity and water information disclosure is stronger for state-owned enterprises than for private enterprises. Research limitations/implications The current water resources regulations in China are relatively lax and the water risk awareness of firms is weak, which may affect the applicability of the results. In addition, water information disclosure research is a relatively new field and a quantitative index system for water information disclosure is still in the exploratory stage. Further developments, including the selection, definition and measuring methods of a water index are required. Practical implications The authors developed a new direction of enterprise water management activities from the perspective of market competition. Based on the market conditions in China, the authors also investigated the impact of the ownership type of the enterprises on the relationship between market competition and water information disclosure. Social implications The authors suggested that the government should improve laws and regulations and adopt incentive mechanisms to encourage enterprises to implement water resource management. In addition, the government should encourage high market status enterprises to actively fulfill their environmental responsibilities so that the entire industry is encouraged to follow suit. Originality/value This study represents an important development in the field of environmental accounting and is the first research on corporate water information disclosure; it also extends the research on the influence mechanisms of market competition on the environmental management practices of enterprises.

scholarly journals Analyst Following, Environmental Disclosure and Cost of Equity: Research Based on Industry Classification

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng Yao ◽  
Haotian Liang
Keyword(s):  
Least Squares ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Cost Of Equity ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Analyst Following ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
The Cost

Prior studies argue that an analyst is an important mediator between a firm and investors, and has a significant influence on the cost of equity. However, how analyst following influences the cost of equity has not been studied in depth. In the Chinese setting, where environmental information has attracted much attention, we explore the interaction among analyst following, environmental information disclosure, and cost of equity. With two linear regression methods of ordinary least squares (OLS) and two-Stage least squares (2SLS), we establish regressions to verify the relationships among them by using empirical data from 2004 to 2011 in China. The results show that analyst following can improve environmental information disclosure and lower the cost of equity. This interaction is more significant in the heavy-pollution industry and after new environmental policy is issued. We also find that environmental disclosure has a mediating effect, which determines how analyst following influences the cost of equity. The results expand the research on environmental information’s motivations and economic consequences.

scholarly journals Quality assessment model of environmental information disclosure

2014 ◽  
pp. 76-87
Author(s):  
Inga Karlonaitė ◽  
Kristina Rudžionienė
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
Increasing Demand

In last decades, environmental issues: pollution, climate change, sing of non-renewable resources, has influenced the economic value of nature and the protection of the environment has become an important goal for institutions and corporations. Increasing concern to environmental problems causes increasing demand for environmental disclosure of environmental related information. Responding to the increasing demand for such type of information, interest of environmental accounting and reporting is growing too. It is especially needed for the disclosed information to be useful and in high quality. Purpose of this work –prepare and adjust quality assessment model of environmental information disclosure. Case study indicates that this model is suitable for Baltic countries companies. Companies mostly disclose information about environmental costs, waste, pollution, programs, projects or activities in social life and regulations they follow. Lithuanian companies are most improved in this area, because 93,75% of companies discloses that information in financial reports, separate reports or internet pages.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Environmental Information Disclosure and Profitability: A Comparison between Different Disclosure Styles

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Yin ◽  
Mingyu Li ◽  
Yuan Ma ◽  
Qiang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Least Square Method ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Environmental Information Disclosure ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
The Relationship

Combined with the existing research gap, this paper divides firms’ environmental information disclosure styles into two types: Substantive style and symbolic style. This paper elaborates on the relationship between environmental information disclosure and firms’ profitability of these two disclosure types and tests this relationship using the data from 676 firms employed from the heave-polluting industry. Considering the endogenous and heteroscedasticity problems, 2-stage least squares method and weighted least square method were adopted. The results showed that (1) positive relationships exist between environmental information disclosure and profitability for both types; and (2) the contribution of symbolic-style disclosure to profitability is larger than that of substantive-style disclosure. These findings are important for corporate managers and highlight some policy implications in developing countries.

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