IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v142y2025ics0140988324008776.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does artificial intelligence suppress firms' greenwashing behavior? Evidence from robot adoption in China

Author

Listed:
  • Bai, Caiquan
  • Yao, Di
  • Xue, Qihang

Abstract

Determining approaches to effectively suppress firms' greenwashing practices has become a popular topic in academic and professional circles. Given that artificial intelligence (AI) applications in production are mainly achieved using industrial robots, we investigate the impact of AI applications on firms' greenwashing behavior using industrial robot data from the International Federation of Robotics and data from Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2019. The results demonstrate that AI applications can significantly suppress firms' greenwashing practices. We also identify three key mechanisms through which AI achieves this effect by reducing costs and increasing profits, improving productivity, and alleviating information asymmetry. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of AI applications on firms' greenwashing behavior is more significant for firms with insufficient cash flow, firms without bank relationships, and those located in regions with good institutional environments and high human capital levels. This study provides a new perspective for suppressing firms' greenwashing practices by promoting AI applications, filling gaps in the existing literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Bai, Caiquan & Yao, Di & Xue, Qihang, 2025. "Does artificial intelligence suppress firms' greenwashing behavior? Evidence from robot adoption in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:142:y:2025:i:c:s0140988324008776
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.108168
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988324008776
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.108168?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Artificial intelligence; Greenwashing behavior; Robots replacing people; Production efficiency; Information asymmetry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

    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:eee:eneeco:v:142:y:2025:i:c:s0140988324008776. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    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.