IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v30y2021i4p1548-1562.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental policies and financial performance: stock market reaction to firms for their proactive environmental practices recognized by governmental programs

Author

Listed:
  • Yuan Chen
  • Vinod Singhal
  • Qinghua Zhu

Abstract

Firms implement proactive environmental practices (PEPs), and governments in developing countries such as China implement environmental policies such as pilot and demonstration programs to promote these PEPs. However, it remains unclear whether and when firms recognized by such governmental programs improve financial performance. Using a sample of 233 firms recognized by a national Chinese government environmental program, event study is employed to estimate stock market reaction of recognized firms. The Heckman two‐stage procedure is followed to examine the moderating effects. We find that the average stock market reaction is not significant. Cross‐sectional analyses indicate that firms with earlier recognitions, recognized for demonstration projects (compared with pilot ones), and operating in more‐polluting industries have greater market reactions, while types of PEPs (internal versus external), export intensity and government ownership (state‐owned or not) do not moderate the market reaction. This paper provides implications for firms about whether and when they should participate in a government environmental program.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:4:p:1548-1562
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2693
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2693?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. Alexandre Sanches Garcia & Renato J. Orsato, 2020. "Testing the institutional difference hypothesis: A study about environmental, social, governance, and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3261-3272, December.
    2. Paul Lanoie, 2008. "When And Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Papers 2008n-02a, CIRANO.
    3. Brian W. Jacobs, 2014. "Shareholder Value Effects of Voluntary Emissions Reduction," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(11), pages 1859-1874, November.
    4. Kar Yee Lo & Calvin Lee Kwan, 2017. "The Effect of Environmental, Social, Governance and Sustainability Initiatives on Stock Value – Examining Market Response to Initiatives Undertaken by Listed Companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(6), pages 606-619, November.
    5. Kazumi Endo, 2019. "Does the stock market value corporate environmental performance? Some perils of static regression models," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1530-1538, November.
    6. Fei Yu, 2012. "Participation Of Firms In Voluntary Environmental Protection Programs: An Analysis Of Corporate Social Responsibility And Capital Market Performance," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 30(1), pages 13-28, January.
    7. Janney, Jay J. & Folta, Timothy B., 2006. "Moderating effects of investor experience on the signaling value of private equity placements," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 27-44, January.
    8. Michelle Lowry & Micah S. Officer & G. William Schwert, 2010. "The Variability of IPO Initial Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 425-465, April.
    9. Denise M. Keele & Susan DeHart, 2011. "Partners of USEPA Climate Leaders: an Event Study on Stock Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 485-497, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Youliang Jin & Chen Cheng & Huixiang Zeng, 2020. "Is evil rewarded with evil? The market penalty effect of corporate environmentally irresponsible events," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 846-871, March.
    12. Qinghua Zhu & Ying Qu & Yong Geng & Tsuyoshi Fujita, 2017. "A Comparison of Regulatory Awareness and Green Supply Chain Management Practices Among Chinese and Japanese Manufacturers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 18-30, January.
    13. Aseem Prakash & Matthew Potoski, 2012. "Voluntary environmental programs: A comparative perspective," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 123-138, December.
    14. Michael Robinson & Anne Kleffner & Stephanie Bertels, 2011. "Signaling Sustainability Leadership: Empirical Evidence of the Value of DJSI Membership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 493-505, July.
    15. Prayag Lal Yadav & Seung Hun Han & Hohyun Kim, 2017. "Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Corporate Environmental Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 345-357, March.
    16. Fabrizio Zerbini, 2017. "CSR Initiatives as Market Signals: A Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 1-23, November.
    17. Hau L. Lee & Christopher S. Tang, 2018. "Socially and Environmentally Responsible Value Chain Innovations: New Operations Management Research Opportunities," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 983-996, March.
    18. O'Connor, Neale G. & Deng, Johnny & Luo, Yadong, 2006. "Political constraints, organization design and performance measurement in China's state-owned enterprises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 157-177, February.
    19. Geng, Ruoqi & Mansouri, S. Afshin & Aktas, Emel, 2017. "The relationship between green supply chain management and performance: A meta-analysis of empirical evidences in Asian emerging economies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PA), pages 245-258.
    20. Zelong Wei & Hao Shen & Kevin Zheng Zhou & Julie Juan Li, 2017. "How Does Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Matter in a Dysfunctional Institutional Environment? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 209-223, January.
    21. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Thorburn, Karin S., 2011. "Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and shareholder wealth," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 430-445.
    22. Yu-Shu Peng & Shing-Shiuan Lin, 2008. "Local Responsiveness Pressure, Subsidiary Resources, Green Management Adoption and Subsidiary’s Performance: Evidence from Taiwanese Manufactures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 79(1), pages 199-212, April.
    23. Feng, Yunting & Lai, Kee-hung & Zhu, Qinghua, 2020. "Legitimacy in operations: How sustainability certification announcements by Chinese listed enterprises influence their market value?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    24. Lai, Kee-hung & Wong, Christina W.Y. & Venus Lun, Y.H., 2014. "The role of customer integration in extended producer responsibility: A study of Chinese export manufacturers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(PB), pages 284-293.
    25. Stephen Brammer & Andrew Millington, 2008. "Does it pay to be different? An analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(12), pages 1325-1343, December.
    26. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    27. Truong, Yann & Pinkse, Jonatan, 2019. "Opportunistic behaviors in green signaling: When do firms engage in symbolic green product preannouncement?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 287-296.
    28. Yusen Xia & Vinod R. Singhal & G. Peter Zhang, 2016. "Product Design Awards and The Market Value of The Firm," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(6), pages 1038-1055, June.
    29. Prayag Lal Yadav & Seung Hun Han & Jae Jeung Rho, 2016. "Impact of Environmental Performance on Firm Value for Sustainable Investment: Evidence from Large US Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 402-420, September.
    30. Zhang, Bin & Lai, Kee-hung & Wang, Bo & Wang, Zhaohua, 2017. "Shareholder value effects of corporate carbon trading: Empirical evidence from market reaction towards Clean Development Mechanism in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 410-421.
    31. Chris K. Y. Lo & Christopher S. Tang & Yi Zhou & Andy C. L. Yeung & Di Fan, 2018. "Environmental Incidents and the Market Value of Firms: An Empirical Investigation in the Chinese Context," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 422-439, July.
    32. Lam, Hugo K.S. & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Cheng, T.C.E. & Humphreys, Paul K., 2016. "Corporate environmental initiatives in the Chinese context: Performance implications and contextual factors," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 48-56.
    33. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    34. Lyon, Thomas & Lu, Yao & Shi, Xinzheng & Yin, Qie, 2013. "How do investors respond to Green Company Awards in China?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-8.
    35. Yi Quan & Huiying Wu & Sihai Li & Sammy Xiaoyan Ying, 2018. "Firm sustainable development and stakeholder engagement: The role of government support," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1145-1158, December.
    36. Mengying Feng & Wantao Yu & Xingyu Wang & Chee Yew Wong & Maozeng Xu & Zhi Xiao, 2018. "Green supply chain management and financial performance: The mediating roles of operational and environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 811-824, November.
    37. Wang, Yanbing & Delgado, Michael S. & Khanna, Neha & Bogan, Vicki L., 2019. "Good news for environmental self-regulation? Finding the right link," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 217-235.
    38. Zhihua Tian & Yanfang Tian & Yang Chen & Shuai Shao, 2020. "The economic consequences of environmental regulation in China: From a perspective of the environmental protection admonishing talk policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1723-1733, May.
    39. Vachon, Stephan & Klassen, Robert D., 2008. "Environmental management and manufacturing performance: The role of collaboration in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 299-315, February.
    40. Kevin B. Hendricks & Vinod R. Singhal, 1997. "Delays in New Product Introductions and the Market Value of the Firm: The Consequences of Being Late to the Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 422-436, April.
    41. Robert D. Klassen & Curtis P. McLaughlin, 1996. "The Impact of Environmental Management on Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1199-1214, August.
    42. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    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. Xinze Li & Luojia Wang & Kerui Du, 2023. "How do environmental regulations influence resource misallocation in China? The role of investment flows," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 538-550, January.
    2. Zhi Li & Qianwen Shao & Jiayun Song, 2023. "The efforts of manufacturing enterprises toward sustainable development under voluntary environmental policy: The roles of external pressure, attraction, and internal attributes," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2315-2329, September.
    3. Cátia da Silva & Ana Paula Barbosa‐Póvoa & Ana Carvalho, 2022. "Towards sustainable development: Green supply chain design and planning using monetization methods," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1369-1394, May.
    4. Liu, Haiyue & Wang, Yile & Shi, Xiaoshuang & Pang, Lina, 2022. "How do environmental policies affect capital market reactions? Evidence from China's construction waste treatment policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    5. Hu, Yingde & Bai, Wensong & Farrukh, Muhammad & Koo, Chun Kwong, 2023. "How does environmental policy uncertainty influence corporate green investments?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).

    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. Ding, Li & Lam, Hugo K.S. & Cheng, T.C.E. & Zhou, Honggeng, 2018. "A review of short-term event studies in operations and supply chain management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 329-342.
    2. Jan Endrikat, 2016. "Market Reactions to Corporate Environmental Performance Related Events: A Meta-analytic Consolidation of the Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 535-548, October.
    3. Lihua Sun & Chunguang Bai & Joseph Sarkis, 2024. "Reward or punishment? The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulatory intervention on the firm market value," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4004-4023, July.
    4. Feng, Yunting & Tong, Xun & Zhu, Qinghua, 2020. "The market value of sustainable practices in the luxury industry: An identity mismatch and institutional theoretical perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Seongtae Kim & Sangho Chae, 2022. "Shareholder Value Effects of Ethical Sourcing: Comparing Reactive and Proactive Initiatives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 887-906, September.
    6. Chung, Yessica C.Y. & Kunene, Noxolo & Chang, Hung-Hao, 2024. "Renewable energy certificates and firm value: Empirical evidence in Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. David Bendig & Andreas Wagner & Kevin Lau, 2023. "Does it pay to be science‐based green? The impact of science‐based emission‐reduction targets on corporate financial performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(1), pages 125-140, February.
    8. Liu, Weihua & Wang, Siyu & Lin, Yong & Xie, Dong & Zhang, Jiahui, 2020. "Effect of intelligent logistics policy on shareholder value: Evidence from Chinese logistics companies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Zhang, Bin & Lai, Kee-hung & Wang, Bo & Wang, Zhaohua, 2017. "Shareholder value effects of corporate carbon trading: Empirical evidence from market reaction towards Clean Development Mechanism in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 410-421.
    10. Khine Kyaw & Mojisola Olugbode & Barbara Petracci, 2022. "Stakeholder engagement: Investors' environmental risk aversion and corporate earnings," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1220-1231, March.
    11. Zhenjie Liu & Weian Li & Chen Hao & Huan Liu, 2021. "Corporate environmental performance and financing constraints: An empirical study in the Chinese context," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 616-629, March.
    12. Yassin Denis Bouzzine & Rainer Lueg, 2020. "The contagion effect of environmental violations: The case of Dieselgate in Germany," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3187-3202, December.
    13. Xu, Su Xiu, 2021. "Overexploitation Risk in “Green Mountains and Clear Water”," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. Wang, Yanbing & Delgado, Michael S. & Khanna, Neha & Bogan, Vicki L., 2019. "Good news for environmental self-regulation? Finding the right link," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 217-235.
    15. Liu, Junjun & Hu, Houbao & Tong, Xun & Zhu, Qinghua, 2020. "Behavioral and technical perspectives of green supply chain management practices: Empirical evidence from an emerging market," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    16. Chotia, Varun & Cheng, Yue & Agarwal, Reeti & Vishnoi, Sushant Kumar, 2024. "AI-enabled Green Business Strategy: Path to carbon neutrality via environmental performance and green process innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    17. 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.
    18. Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Aurélien Petit, 2019. "Every Little Helps? ESG News and Stock Market Reaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 543-565, June.
    19. Hjort, Ingrid, 2016. "Potential Climate Risks in Financial Markets: A Literature Overview," Memorandum 01/2016, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    20. Ruiqian Li & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, 2020. "Can environmental investments benefit environmental performance? The moderating roles of institutional environment and foreign direct investment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3385-3398, 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:30:y:2021:i:4:p:1548-1562. 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.