IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v67y2024ipas1544612324009073.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does corporate greenwashing affect investors' decisions?

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Tinghui
  • Shu, Xin
  • Liao, Gaoke

Abstract

Greenwashing creates a misleadingly positive image for corporations while leading to the misguidance of investors' behaviors. Based on the sample of Chinese A-share listed companies for the period 2008–2021, this paper investigates the impact of corporate greenwashing on investors’ decisions. The empirical results indicate that (i) greenwashing significantly improves short-term returns on corporate stocks, but reduces long-term returns; (ii) in the short term, investors are influenced by expressive manipulation rather than selective disclosure, but this impact is not sustainable, and both have an impact in the long term. These findings provide a new risk reminder for investors’ behaviors and have practical significance for government to promote the green development of corporations.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Tinghui & Shu, Xin & Liao, Gaoke, 2024. "Does corporate greenwashing affect investors' decisions?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:67:y:2024:i:pa:s1544612324009073
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.105877
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612324009073
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105877?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Xudong & Zhu, Hao & Meng, Yiqun, 2023. "ESG greenwashing and equity mispricing: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    2. Agostino Vollero & Maria Palazzo & Alfonso Siano & Wim J.L. Elving, 2016. "Avoiding the greenwashing trap: between CSR communication and stakeholder engagement," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(2), pages 120-140.
    3. York, Richard & Rosa, Eugene A. & Dietz, Thomas, 2003. "STIRPAT, IPAT and ImPACT: analytic tools for unpacking the driving forces of environmental impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 351-365, October.
    4. Yue, Jun & Li, Yilin, 2023. "Media attention and corporate greenwashing behavior: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    5. Ramiz ur Rehman & Zahid Riaz & Charles Cullinan & Junrui Zhang & Fanghua Wang, 2020. "Institutional Ownership and Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Bauer, Michael & Huber, Daniel & Rudebusch, Glenn & Wilms, Ole, 2022. "Where is the carbon premium? Global performance of green and brown stocks," Other publications TiSEM 6b117156-316d-440a-9fa5-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Kleffel, Philipp & Muck, Matthias, 2023. "Aggregate confusion or inner conflict? An experimental analysis of investors’ reaction to greenwashing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    8. Gaoke Liao & Peng Hou & Xiaoyan Shen & Khaldoon Albitar, 2021. "The impact of economic policy uncertainty on stock returns: The role of corporate environmental responsibility engagement," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4386-4392, July.
    9. Sabine Matejek & Tobias Gössling, 2014. "Beyond Legitimacy: A Case Study in BP’s “Green Lashing”," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(4), pages 571-584, April.
    10. Zhenghui Li & Hao Dong & Christos Floros & Athanasios Charemis & Pierre Failler, 2022. "Re-examining Bitcoin Volatility: A CAViaR-based Approach," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(5), pages 1320-1338, April.
    11. Michael Mayberry, 2020. "Good for managers, bad for society? Causal evidence on the association between risk‐taking incentives and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(9-10), pages 1182-1214, October.
    12. Li, Zhenghui & Huang, Zimei & Su, Yaya, 2023. "New media environment, environmental regulation and corporate green technology innovation:Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    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. Yikang Xing, 2024. "Under the Goal of Sustainable Development, Do Regions with Higher Energy Intensity Generate More Green Innovation? Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Li, Jiao, 2024. "Controlling shareholders’ stock pledges and greenwashing–Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    3. Boying Wang & Runguo Xu, 2025. "How Industrial Output, Economic Growth, Environmental Technology, and Globalization Impact Load Capacity Factor in E7 Nations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.

    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. Yan Peng & Hanzi Chen & Tinghui Li, 2023. "The Impact of Digital Transformation on ESG: A Case Study of Chinese-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Sun, Jianhua & Hou, Shaobo & Deng, Yuxia & Li, Huaicheng, 2024. "New media environment, green technological innovation and corporate productivity: Evidence from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Marc Ringel & Saranda Mjekic, 2023. "Analyzing the Role of Banks in Providing Green Finance for Retail Customers: The Case of Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.
    4. Xuemeng Zhao & Weilun Huang, 2024. "Global Geopolitical Changes and New/Renewable Energy Game," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-27, August.
    5. Claudia García-García & Catalina B. García-García & Román Salmerón, 2021. "Confronting collinearity in environmental regression models: evidence from world data," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 30(3), pages 895-926, September.
    6. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Xu, Lu & Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning, 2021. "Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Fan, Fei & Dai, Shangze & Yang, Bo & Ke, Haiqian, 2023. "Urban density, directed technological change, and carbon intensity: An empirical study based on Chinese cities," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Nicole Grunewald & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2009. "Driving Factors of Carbon Dioxide Emissions and the Impact from Kyoto Protocol," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 190, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    9. Juan Antonio Duro & Jordi Teixidó-Figueras & Emilio Padilla, 2017. "The Causal Factors of International Inequality in $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 Emissions Per Capita: A Regression-Based Inequality Decomposition Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(4), pages 683-700, August.
    10. Lei Gao & Taowu Pei & Jingran Zhang & Yu Tian, 2022. "The “Pollution Halo” Effect of FDI: Evidence from the Chinese Sichuan–Chongqing Urban Agglomeration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-17, September.
    11. Saikku, Laura & Rautiainen, Aapo & Kauppi, Pekka E., 2008. "The sustainability challenge of meeting carbon dioxide targets in Europe by 2020," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 730-742, February.
    12. Liu, Jiamin & Zhang, Jiaoning & Ma, Xiaoyu & Zhao, Bin & Zhang, Mengyu, 2024. "The road to sustainable development: Can the new energy demonstration city policy promote the industrial structure transformation?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PB).
    13. Liddle, Brantley, 2013. "Population, Affluence, and Environmental Impact Across Development: Evidence from Panel Cointegration Modeling," MPRA Paper 52088, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Ling Xiong & Shaozhou Qi, 2018. "Financial Development And Carbon Emissions In Chinese Provinces: A Spatial Panel Data Analysis," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(02), pages 447-464, March.
    15. Zhenxiang Cao & Liqing Peng, 2023. "The Impact of Digital Economics on Environmental Quality: A System Dynamics Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    16. Xi Liu & Yugang He & Renhong Wu, 2024. "Revolutionizing Environmental Sustainability: The Role of Renewable Energy Consumption and Environmental Technologies in OECD Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-21, January.
    17. Casey, Gregory & Galor, Oded, 2017. "Is faster economic growth compatible with reductions in carbon emissions? The role of diminished population growth," MPRA Paper 76164, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Aihua Wang & Qiqi Ruan & Teng Zhou & Yanzhen Wang, 2022. "Digitizable Product Trade Development and Carbon Emission: Evidence from 94 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    19. Hu, Zongyi & Tang, Liwei, 2013. "Exploring the relation between urbanization and residential CO2 emissions in China: a PTR approach," MPRA Paper 55379, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Adnan Khurshid & Abdur Rauf & Sadia Qayyum & Adrian Cantemir Calin & WenQi Duan, 2023. "Green innovation and carbon emissions: the role of carbon pricing and environmental policies in attaining sustainable development targets of carbon mitigation—evidence from Central-Eastern Europe," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8777-8798, August.

    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:finlet:v:67:y:2024:i:pa:s1544612324009073. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.