IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v29y2020i6p2251-2264.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Long‐term economic consequences of corporate environmental responsibility: Evidence from heavily polluting listed companies in China

Author

Listed:
  • Fei Xu
  • Mian Yang
  • Qiangyi Li
  • Xiaolei Yang

Abstract

In this study, we aim to investigate the long‐term economic consequences of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) by companies from the perspective of earnings persistence and investors' response. Based on firm‐level data of 1,010 heavily polluting listed companies in China, the empirical results are as follows. First, the CER of China's heavily polluting listed companies has significantly improved their earnings persistence, that is, earnings quality. Second, the positive long‐term economic effect of CER has been achieved through two paths: improving companies' operational efficiency and reducing their credit costs. Third, CER increases investors' response to heavily polluting companies' accounting earnings. Moreover, state‐owned listed companies achieve more significant positive long‐term economic effects from CER than others. The results suggest that heavily polluting companies should correctly identify the long‐term value of CER rather than pay excessive attention to the impact of CER on their current costs and benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Fei Xu & Mian Yang & Qiangyi Li & Xiaolei Yang, 2020. "Long‐term economic consequences of corporate environmental responsibility: Evidence from heavily polluting listed companies in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2251-2264, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:29:y:2020:i:6:p:2251-2264
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2500
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2500
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2500?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brock, William A. & Taylor, M. Scott, 2005. "Economic Growth and the Environment: A Review of Theory and Empirics," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 28, pages 1749-1821, Elsevier.
    2. Natalia Lazzati & Amilcar A. Menichini, 2018. "A Dynamic Model of Firm Valuation," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 53(3), pages 499-531, August.
    3. Christina W. Y. Wong & Xin Miao & Shuang Cui & Yanhong Tang, 2018. "Impact of Corporate Environmental Responsibility on Operating Income: Moderating Role of Regional Disparities in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 363-382, May.
    4. Jaepil Choi & Heli Wang, 2009. "Stakeholder relations and the persistence of corporate financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 895-907, August.
    5. Richardson, Scott A. & Sloan, Richard G. & Soliman, Mark T. & Tuna, Irem, 2005. "Accrual reliability, earnings persistence and stock prices," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 437-485, September.
    6. Yawen Gao & Jibao Gu & Hefu Liu, 2019. "Interactive effects of various institutional pressures on corporate environmental responsibility: Institutional theory and multilevel analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 724-736, July.
    7. Dechow, Patricia M., 1994. "Accounting earnings and cash flows as measures of firm performance : The role of accounting accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 3-42, July.
    8. Richard Arend, 2014. "Social and Environmental Performance at SMEs: Considering Motivations, Capabilities, and Instrumentalism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(4), pages 541-561, December.
    9. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2016. "Corporate governance and green innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-72.
    10. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    11. Tanaka, Shinsuke, 2015. "Environmental regulations on air pollution in China and their impact on infant mortality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 90-103.
    12. Falck, Oliver & Heblich, Stephan, 2007. "Corporate social responsibility: Doing well by doing good," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 247-254.
    13. Cormier, Denis & Magnan, Michel, 2007. "The revisited contribution of environmental reporting to investors' valuation of a firm's earnings: An international perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 613-626, May.
    14. James A. Ohlson, 2001. "Earnings, Book Values, and Dividends in Equity Valuation: An Empirical Perspective," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 107-120, March.
    15. Li, Feng, 2008. "Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 221-247, August.
    16. Yan-Leung Cheung & Weiqiang Tan & Wenming Wang, 2018. "National Stakeholder Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Bank Loan Cost," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 505-524, June.
    17. Lars Hassel & Henrik Nilsson & Siv Nyquist, 2005. "The value relevance of environmental performance," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 41-61.
    18. Marty Stuebs & Li Sun, 2010. "Business Reputation and Labor Efficiency, Productivity, and Cost," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(2), pages 265-283, October.
    19. Corinna Dögl & Michael Behnam, 2015. "Environmentally Sustainable Development through Stakeholder Engagement in Developed and Emerging Countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 583-600, September.
    20. Shi, Xinzheng & Xu, Zhufeng, 2018. "Environmental regulation and firm exports: Evidence from the eleventh Five-Year Plan in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 187-200.
    21. Jane Claydon, 2011. "A new direction for CSR: the shortcomings of previous CSR models and the rationale for a new model," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 405-420, August.
    22. Regina M. Anctil & Sandra Chamberlain, 2005. "Determinants of the Time Series of Earnings and Implications for Earnings Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(3), pages 483-517, September.
    23. Hailiang Zou & Xuemei Xie & Guoyou Qi & Mengyu Yang, 2019. "The heterogeneous relationship between board social ties and corporate environmental responsibility in an emerging economy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 40-52, January.
    24. Wang, Qunwei & Hang, Ye & Su, Bin & Zhou, Peng, 2018. "Contributions to sector-level carbon intensity change: An integrated decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 12-25.
    25. Hong Wang, 2010. "Factor analysis of corporate environmental responsibility," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 481-490, August.
    26. repec:eme:srjpps:v:6:y:2010:i:2:p:405-420 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Chen, Yi-Chun & Hung, Mingyi & Wang, Yongxiang, 2018. "The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 169-190.
    28. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten & Larsen, Birthe & Rosenbaum, Philip, 2019. "CEO education and corporate environmental footprint," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 254-273.
    29. Marilyn T. Lucas, 2010. "Understanding environmental management practices: integrating views from strategic management and ecological economics," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(8), pages 543-556, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoting Liu & Jichang Dong & Kangxian Ji & Xiuting Li & Shijie Xu, 2022. "Investigating the ‘Short Pain’ and ‘Long Gain’ Effect of Environmental Regulation on Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Listed Polluting Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Boubaker, Sabri & Liu, Pei-Zhi & Ren, Yi-Shuai & Ma, Chao-Qun, 2024. "Do anti-corruption campaigns affect corporate environmental responsibility? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Hail Jung & Seyeong Song & Chang-Keun Song, 2021. "Carbon Emission Regulation, Green Boards, and Corporate Environmental Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-12, April.
    4. Yuanyang Wang & Yanlin Yang & Chenyu Fu & Zengzeng Fan & Xiaoping Zhou, 2021. "Environmental regulation, environmental responsibility, and green technology innovation: Empirical research from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-21, September.
    5. Zhang, Weike & Luo, Qian & Liu, Shiyuan, 2022. "Is government regulation a push for corporate environmental performance? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 105-121.
    6. Ling Jin & Jun-Hyeok Choi & Saerona Kim & Dong-Hoon Yang, 2021. "Government Environmental Pressure and Market Response to Carbon Disclosure: A Study of the Early Chinese ETS Implementation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Ruiqian Li & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan & Guanghua Xu, 2023. "The impact of penalties for environmental violations on corporate environmental responsibility," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1343-1363, June.
    8. Zhenghui Li & Yan Wang & Yong Tan & Zimei Huang, 2020. "Does Corporate Financialization Affect Corporate Environmental Responsibility? An Empirical Study of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, May.
    9. Fang, Xingming & Wang, Lu & Sun, Chuanwang & Zheng, Xuemei & Wei, Jing, 2021. "Gap between words and actions: Empirical study on consistency of residents supporting renewable energy development in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PA).
    10. Yang, Cheng & Zhang, Wenzhe & Sheng, Yan & Yang, Zhiqing, 2021. "Corruption and firm efforts on environmental protection: Evidence from a policy shock," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Yuan Chen & Vinod Singhal & Qinghua Zhu, 2021. "Environmental policies and financial performance: stock market reaction to firms for their proactive environmental practices recognized by governmental programs," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1548-1562, May.
    12. Zeyu Xie & Mian Yang & Fei Xu, 2023. "Carbon emission trading system and stock price crash risk of heavily polluting listed companies in China: based on analyst coverage mechanism," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-30, December.
    13. Li, Qiangyi & Zeng, Fu'e & Liu, Shaohui & Yang, Mian & Xu, Fei, 2021. "The effects of China's sustainable development policy for resource-based cities on local industrial transformation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Bablu Kumar Dhar & Iman Harymawan & Sabrina Maria Sarkar, 2022. "Impact of corporate social responsibility on financial expert CEOs' turnover in heavily polluting companies in Bangladesh," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 701-711, May.
    15. Zhong, Xi & Chen, Weihong & Ren, Ge, 2022. "The impact of corporate social irresponsibility on emerging-economy firms’ long-term performance: An explanation based on signal theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 345-357.
    16. Fuzhen Liu & Kee-hung Lai & Wei Cai, 2021. "Responsible Production for Sustainability: Concept Analysis and Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-27, January.
    17. Tu, Qiang & Mo, Jianlei & Betz, Regina & Cui, Lianbiao & Fan, Ying & Liu, Yu, 2020. "Achieving grid parity of solar PV power in China- The role of Tradable Green Certificate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    18. Lan Gao & Liang Wan, 2023. "Does corporate environmental responsibility contribute to financial performance? A dual path analysis through operational efficiency and the cost of debt," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 308-323, January.
    19. Xu, Fei & Liu, Qian & Zheng, Xingdong & Cao, Luqi & Yang, Mian, 2022. "Research on the impact of China's high-speed rail opening on enterprise market power: Based on the perspective of market segmentation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 121-137.
    20. Syed Ghulam Meran Shah & Muddassar Sarfraz & Larisa Ivascu, 2021. "Assessing the interrelationship corporate environmental responsibility, innovative strategies, cognitive and hierarchical CEO: A stakeholder theory perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 457-473, January.

    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. Yongming Zhang & Mohsen Imeni & Seyyed Ahmad Edalatpanah, 2023. "Environmental Dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility and Earnings Persistence: An Exploration of the Moderator Roles of Operating Efficiency and Financing Cost," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Lorenzo Simoni & Stefan Schaper & Christian Nielsen, 2022. "Business Model Disclosures, Market Values, and Earnings Persistence: Evidence From the UK," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(1), pages 142-173, March.
    3. Frankel, Richard & Jennings, Jared & Lee, Joshua, 2016. "Using unstructured and qualitative disclosures to explain accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 209-227.
    4. Carlos J.O. Trejo-Pech & Richard N. Weldon & Michael A. Gunderson, 2016. "Earnings Management through Specific Accruals and Discretionary Expenses: Evidence from U.S. Agribusiness Firms," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 64(1), pages 89-118, March.
    5. Nezlobin, Alexander & Sloan, Richard G. & Giedt, Jenny Zha, 2022. "Construct validity in accruals quality research," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112165, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Mauricio Jara-Bertin & Jean P. Sepulveda, 2014. "Earnings Management and Performance in Family-Controlled Firms:Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Serie Working Papers 01, Universidad del Desarrollo, School of Business and Economics, revised Nov 2014.
    7. Jung Ho Choi, 2021. "Accrual Accounting and Resource Allocation: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 1179-1219, September.
    8. Maria del Mar Miralles‐Quiros & Jose Luis Miralles‐Quiros & Irene Guia Arraiano, 2017. "Sustainable Development, Sustainability Leadership and Firm Valuation: Differences across Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 1014-1028, November.
    9. Robert M. Bushman & Alina Lerman & X. Frank Zhang, 2016. "The Changing Landscape of Accrual Accounting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 41-78, March.
    10. Papanastasopoulos, Georgios & Thomakos, Dimitrios & Wang, Tao, 2011. "Accruals and the performance of stock returns following external financing activities," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 214-229.
    11. Giovanna Michelon & Giacomo Boesso & Kamalesh Kumar, 2013. "Examining the Link between Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Company Performance: An Analysis of the Best Corporate Citizens," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 81-94, March.
    12. Yue Hua & Yue Lu & Ruili Zhao, 2022. "Global value chain engagement and air pollution: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 708-727, July.
    13. Imran Abbas Jadoon & Akhter Ali & Usman Ayub & Muhammad Tahir & Raheel Mumtaz, 2021. "The impact of sustainability reporting quality on the value relevance of corporate sustainability performance," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 155-175, January.
    14. Dichev, Ilia D. & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2013. "Earnings quality: Evidence from the field," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 1-33.
    15. Kihoon Hong & Jinhee Kim & So Yean Kwack, 2022. "External Monitoring, ESG, and Information Content of Discretionary Accruals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    16. S. P. Kothari & Charles Wasley, 2019. "Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1117-1159, December.
    17. Kai Du & Xin Daniel Jiang, 2020. "Connections between the Market Pricing of Accruals Quality and Accounting‐Based Anomalies," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 2087-2119, December.
    18. Arif, Salman & Marshall, Nathan & Yohn, Teri Lombardi, 2016. "Understanding the relation between accruals and volatility: A real options-based investment approach," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 65-86.
    19. Cassar, Gavin & Ittner, Christopher D. & Cavalluzzo, Ken S., 2015. "Alternative information sources and information asymmetry reduction: Evidence from small business debt," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 242-263.
    20. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.

    More about this item

    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:bla:bstrat:v:29:y:2020:i:6:p:2251-2264. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.