scholarly journals Do environmental responsibility views influence investors’ use of environmental performance and assurance information?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Dilla ◽  
Diane Janvrin ◽  
Jon Perkins ◽  
Robyn Raschke
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Performance Information ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nonprofessional Investors ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Investment Returns ◽  
Environmental Measures ◽  
Scale Compatibility

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate whether investor views regarding the benefits of corporate environmental responsibility moderate the influence of environmental performance and assurance information on their judgments. Specifically, the authors examine the effects of two broad views: environmental responsibility is more important than financial performance, regardless of investment returns (i.e. environmental responsibility importance) and positive environmental performance will increase investment returns (i.e. environmental performance return). Design/methodology/approach Nonprofessional investors completed an online study where environmental performance (high or low) and assurance on environmental performance information (present or absent) were varied. Participants’ corporate environmental responsibility views were assessed using a series of questions adapted from Cheah et al.’s (2011) study. Findings Environmental performance and assurance information had a greater influence on the investment judgments of investors with strong environmental responsibility views. In contrast, participants’ environmental performance return views did not moderate the influence of environmental performance and assurance information on their judgments. Supplemental analysis indicates that these contrasting results are due to the fact that the two investor views have differing influences on the relative importance that investors place on financial vs environmental performance information. Research limitations/implications This study presented participants with summarized financial and environmental performance information to maintain scale compatibility between financial and environmental measures. However, the information was presented in a format similar to those used by online brokerages. Practical implications This study suggests that financial statement preparers should consider investors’ views regarding the importance and value of environmental performance information when making decisions to disclose and obtain assurance on this information. Social implications Standard setters should consider individual differences among investors when developing guidance regarding the disclosure and assurance of environmental performance information. Originality/value There is limited prior research which examines how investors’ views of the importance of environmental performance information may influence investment judgments. This research indicates that the strength of investors’ environmental responsibility importance moderates the previously reported influence of environmental performance and assurance information on investment judgments.

Investor views, investment screen use, and socially responsible investment behavior

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Dilla ◽  
Diane Janvrin ◽  
Jon Perkins ◽  
Robyn Raschke
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Investment Behavior ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nonprofessional Investors ◽  
Socially Responsible Investments ◽  
Screen Use

Purpose Despite the increasing demand for socially responsible investments (SRIs) and the importance of information intermediaries in providing corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance information through SRI screens, relatively little is known about the relationship between nonprofessional investors’ views regarding SRI, their use of SRI screens and their actual SRI behavior. This study aims to distinguish between investor views about the importance of corporate environmental responsibility (environmental performance importance views) and whether they view environmentally responsible firms as yielding higher returns (environmental performance return views). It examines the association between these views, SRI screen use and reported SRI holdings. Design/methodology/approach Nonprofessional investor participants completed an online survey about their SRI investment views, screen use and investment behavior. The survey yielded 201 usable responses. Findings The strength of participants’ environmental performance importance and environmental performance return views is positively associated with their use of SRI screens and the proportion of their portfolios held in SRIs. SRI screen use only partially mediates the association between investors’ environmental performance importance and return views and their SRI holdings. Research limitations/implications The study does not precisely address what types of SRI screens nonprofessional investors may be using. It does not control for investors’ specific experience with SRIs, nor does it examine how or why investors come to believe that environmental responsibility may improve a company’s return potential. Practical implications The fact that SRI screen use only partially mediates the association between investors’ views and their SRI holdings suggests that either reliable, unfiltered CSR information is important for nonprofessional investors or some investors are choosing SRIs without obtaining adequate relevant information. Social implications The study’s findings confirm earlier research findings which show an association between investors’ pro-environmental views and their decision to invest in SRIs (Williams, 2007; Nilsson, 2008) and suggest that nonprofessional investors are becoming aware of the positive relation between environmental performance and firm value (Dhaliwal et al., 2011; Clarkson et al., 2013; Hawn et al., 2014; Matsumura et al., 2014). Originality/value This study simultaneously examines the influence of environmental performance importance (an “alternative” investment perspective) and environmental performance return (a “traditional” investment perspective) on investors’ SRI behavior.

scholarly journals Spatial Dynamics between Firm Sales and Environmental Responsibility: The Mediating Role of Corporate Innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiafeng Gu
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
External Control ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Corporate Innovation

Corporate environmental responsibility (CER) is increasingly gaining interest among researchers and practitioners. Despite this extensive interest, systematic research regarding the effect of sales on environmental performance remains scarce. In this study, an empirical analysis on a sample of 909 Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2016 showed that sales positively impact environmental performance. This study also showed that corporate innovation mediates the relationship between sales and environmental performance. Furthermore, this study showed that environmental performance has a positive spatial spillover effect. Enterprises appear to promote their own environmental performance as a response to a rise in the environmental performance of their neighbors. The external control theory of organization has important reference significance and explanatory power for CER behavior in emerging economies.

Corporate environmental responsibility and financial performance: does bidirectional causality work? Empirical evidence from the manufacturing industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Testa ◽  
Antonio D’Amato
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Commitment ◽  
Panel Data Regression ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Italian Manufacturing Firms

Purpose Over the past two decades, scholarly attention has focused mainly on a direct and inverse relationship between corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and corporate financial performance (CFP). This study aims to explore the bidirectional causality hypothesis, as good environmental results can lead to good financial results, which makes it possible to invest more resources in projects that improve environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors test the bidirectional causality between CER and CFP on a sample of listed Italian manufacturing firms over the 2005-2014 period. The authors use a fixed effect panel data regression and check the robustness of the results with alternative econometric techniques. Findings Although the findings do not support bidirectional hypothesis, they establish direction/causality from CFP to CER. As a result, environmental responsibility is a consequence of prior financial performance, which supports the slack resources hypothesis. Research limitations/implications Given that companies’ environmental commitment is dictated by economic evaluations or by assessing the availability of resources to invest, it seems that the spread of environmentally responsible behaviours might be supported by different external pressures. Originality/value The paper provides further insights on sustainability management literature by establishing a bidirectional relationship between firm performance and environmental responsibility.

The impact of corporate environmental responsibility strategy on brand sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengzhi Long ◽  
Jing Lin
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Brand Value ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Context ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThough enormous research studies were conducted on corporate environmental responsibility (CER), few of them could empirically justify how CER helps to improve firm’s competitive advantage and firms are still hesitant to incorporate CER with their business strategy at present. The purpose of this paper is to theoretically and empirically explore how the CER strategy could help the firm to gain competitive advantage in Chinese context, particularly in terms of achieving brand sustainability (BS).Design/methodology/approachIn this study, 310 listed companies in China were chosen as research sample. First, the CER strategies were classified into developing eco-friendly products, adopting EMAS or other eco-management, enhancing the impact of CER through value chain and charitable CER. Second, BS is constructed as two dimensions, i.e. resource-acquisition and consumer impact. Accordingly, this paper analyzed the relationship between CER and BS with regression model analysis, taking account of several moderating and control variables.FindingsThe results indicate that CER strategies have positive effect on BS. Among all CER strategies, developing eco-friendly products and charitable CER undertakings are the most effective ones to promote BS performance. Also, the paper found that the length of time in adopting CER strategy moderates the effect of CER on BS. The empirical evidence proves that CER strategies could enhance the brand value in terms of BS and help the company to gain competitive advantage.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, most of our samples are of the state-owned enterprises, so our assumption might not be applicable to other types of business. Second, corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication is an important factor in the relation between CSR and corporate performance, but it is not taken into account in this study. Third, the difference in industries and ownership in this research is out of concern.Practical implicationsAs this paper has provided empirical evidence to reveal the effectiveness of different CER strategies, firms in China could be more motivated to undertake CER not only for the sake of environment but also for their brand value and competitive advantage. More importantly, this paper could be a valuable reference for the firms in China to choose suitable and effective CER strategies, as proved in this study, to gain competitive advantage in the market.Originality/valueAt first, while public environmental awareness has improved gradually, we introduce the BS concept to explain how the CER strategies affect CCA. This approach gives us another perspective to highlight the relationship between these two constructs. Second, we conducted our research from practical perspective to explore how to apply the CER undertakings as the company’s strategy. Third, we conducted our empirical research in Chinese context, which will enrich the theoretical CER and CSR literature.

scholarly journals Promoting or Inhibiting? The Impact of Enterprise Environmental Performance on Economic Performance: Evidence From China's Large Iron and Steel Enterprises

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Liu ◽  
Feng He ◽  
Jianyu Ren
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Iron And Steel ◽  
Environmental Performance Evaluation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Production And Operation

Abstract In recent years, people have realized the importance of corporate environmental responsibility. In this study, we combine the Slack-based Measurement (SBM) model with the "Super-efficiency" model to construct the environmental performance evaluation based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure the environmental performance of China's large iron and steel enterprises from 2009 to 2017. Then, it studies the impact of environmental performance on enterprise economic performance through regression analysis. The results show that the impact of environmental performance of China's large iron and steel enterprises on economic performance shows an inverted U-shaped relationship. The conclusion is helpful to encourage enterprises to actively carry out environmental management, so as to maintain and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. Therefore, this paper suggests that iron and steel enterprises should balance the relationship between environmental responsibility and economic performance in order to maximize enterprise performance. The main purpose of this paper is to let enterprises solve the negative externalities in production through internalization, and encourage enterprises to adopt environmental protection behavior for production and operation.

Environmental management accounting, board role performance, company characteristics and environmental performance disclosure

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Korutaro Nkundabanyanga ◽  
Bruno Muramuzi ◽  
Kassim Alinda
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Performance Information ◽  
Role Performance ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industry Type ◽  
Environmental Management Accounting

Purpose The increasing environmental challenges require efforts to expand the scope of accounting to better evaluate organizations’ behaviour/practices. This paper aims to report the results of studying the link between environmental management accounting (EMA), board role performance (BRP), company characteristics and environmental performance disclosure (EPD) of Ugandan manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach The study was correlational and cross-sectional. The results are obtained through content analysis of company reports, websites and a questionnaire survey of 102 large and medium manufacturing firms in four districts of Uganda. Findings Results indicate that EMA causes significant variances in EPD in manufacturing firms. Also, BRP and firm size explain variances in EPD through EMA. Research limitations/implications The research does not control for industry type. Still, the results offer hope on how the reliability of environmental performance information that companies voluntarily provide outside financial statements, can be improved. Originality/value Results potentially extend available literature by providing a mechanism through which the environmental performance information is obtained for onward disclosure.

The impact of corporate environmental responsibility on corporate cash holdings: evidence from the most polluting listed companies in China

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Liao ◽  
Liping Zheng ◽  
Yu Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Cash Holdings ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Value Of Cash ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Corporate Cash Holdings

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) on corporate cash holdings. This paper also investigates the moderating effects of ownership type and institutional environment between CER and corporate cash holdings.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the data of the most polluting listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchange markets over the period 2010–2019. CER data from Hexun.com (a professional CSR evaluation system) are used to measure CER performance. Two proxies are used to measure the level of cash holdings simultaneously, where CASH1 is calculated as the ratio of cash and cash equivalents to total assets, and CASH2 is calculated as the ratio of cash and cash equivalents to net assets (total assets minus cash and cash equivalents). Finally, multiple regression analysis is applied to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that environmentally responsible companies hold substantially less cash, and the result is statistically significant and robust even after using firm fixed effects and applying alternative measures of cash holdings or alleviating potential endogeneity. In addition, the results of cross-sectional tests show that the negative relation between CER and corporate cash holdings is concentrated among non-state-owned enterprises, and firms in provinces with more developed institutions. Furthermore, the result of the analysis of the economic consequence shows CER significantly increases the value of cash holdings.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on China's institutional context, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other countries. However, the objective of this research can be studied in other institutional settings, so the above limitations provide a springboard for further research. Furthermore, the environmental protection investment, green technology innovation, and even pollutant discharge of companies can also be important indicators to measure the performance of firms in fulfilling their environmental responsibilities, which can be considered in future research.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study may help company management in China to establish a correct view of environmental responsibility to achieve corporate value creation and corporate sustainability. And our research can also provide the policy reference value for the Chinese government to further improve environmental protection policies and systems, guide enterprises to conduct green production to realize the country's vision of an environmentally friendly society.Originality/valueBased on the current background that countries in the world advocate the development of a green economy, this is the first study to examine the impacts of the environmental responsibility of the most polluting companies on corporate cash holdings and the value of cash holdings in the context of China, an emerging market.

scholarly journals Collective identity, institutional logic and environmental management accounting change

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Järvenpää ◽  
Aapo Länsiluoto
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Performance Measurement System ◽  
Institutional Logic ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Performance Measurement ◽  
Environmental Measures

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how collective identity and institutional logic affect the design and use of an environmental performance measurement system. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a qualitative case study with abductive theorizing and empirical data obtained through semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. Findings The new environmental measures were reshaped by aligning them with the existing and dominant collective identity in the case organization – in other words, cost savings and profitability. Moreover, the institutional logic forced the environmental measures to remain as non-strategic and non-bonus criteria in favour of traditional financial measures. Originality/value Thornton and Ocasio’s (2008) institutional logic is applied and its potential for analyzing change in environmental accounting is shown. The paper illustrates how collective identity and institutional logic are important mechanisms reshaping environmental performance measurement design and use, when the existing collective identity is reproduced.

scholarly journals Accounting Treatment of R&D for Environmentally Responsible Firms: Evidence from South Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3418
Author(s):  
Suyon Kim ◽  
Jaehong Lee
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Alternative Measure ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Commercial Success ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and R&D accounting treatment. Using firms listed in the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE) market between the years 2014 and 2018, this study not only investigates this relationship but also expands upon CER activities in various aspects, such as environmental performance strategy, environmental performance organization, and environmental shareholders. Furthermore, the positive association between various CER activities and R&D capitalization is significant in a highly competitive market. This relationship is robust with an alternative measure of CER activities and firm-fixed effects. This result implies that firms participating in CER activities focus on sustainable commercial success, unlike other firms.

scholarly journals Non-Financial Environmental Responsibility Information, Information Environment, and Credit Ratings: Evidence from South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1315
Author(s):  
Youngtae Yoo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Credit Ratings ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Maturity Stage ◽  
Environmental Strategy ◽  
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Stakeholder Communication ◽  
Weak Influence

The purpose of this study was to analyze which dimensions of non-financial environmental responsibility information are more reflected in credit ratings. The non-financial environmental responsibility information used in this study was environmental strategy, environmental organization, environmental management, environmental performance, and stakeholder communication. Based on 1085 companies listed on the Korean capital market from 2013 to 2018, this study reports that the more companies engage in environmental responsibility activities, the better their credit ratings are. Specifically, it found that companies with higher environmental performance and stakeholder communication activities received better credit ratings, while higher environmental management and environmental strategy scores had a relatively weak influence. This indicates that among the corporate environmental responsibilities, the more activities requiring relatively little discretion from managers are performed, the more the reputation capital that is accumulated through corporate environmental responsibility (CER) activities, which leads to higher credit ratings. These associations were found to be strengthened in an information environment where there is a higher degree of information asymmetry and the lifecycle of a firm is at a maturity stage.

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