IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbfina/v153y2023ics0378426623001061.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Actions speak louder than words: Environmental law enforcement externalities and access to bank loans

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Xiting
  • Luo, Le
  • You, Jiaxing

Abstract

By exploiting the staggered city-level establishment of specialized environmental courts in China as exogenous shocks and using a difference-in-differences research design, we find that an increase in the efficiency of environmental enforcement leads to a decrease in companies’ access to bank loans. The channel tests show that these same shocks lead to an increase in environmental litigation, operational and reputational risk. The cross-sectional analyses also reveal consistent evidence. Collectively, our findings suggest that the environmental mandate has important externalities for bank lending decisions, indicating that the costs of environmental enforcement go beyond reducing environmental pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Xiting & Luo, Le & You, Jiaxing, 2023. "Actions speak louder than words: Environmental law enforcement externalities and access to bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:153:y:2023:i:c:s0378426623001061
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2023.106882
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378426623001061
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2023.106882?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. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    2. Kee‐Hong Bae & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Creditor Rights, Enforcement, and Bank Loans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(2), pages 823-860, April.
    3. Blacconiere, Walter G. & Patten, Dennis M., 1994. "Environmental disclosures, regulatory costs, and changes in firm value," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 357-377, November.
    4. Edward L. Glaeser & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Do Institutions Cause Growth?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 271-303, September.
    5. Choi, Bobae & Luo, Le, 2021. "Does the market value greenhouse gas emissions? Evidence from multi-country firm data," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    6. Chen, Yvonne Jie & Li, Pei & Lu, Yi, 2018. "Career concerns and multitasking local bureaucrats: Evidence of a target-based performance evaluation system in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 84-101.
    7. Brandt, Loren & Li, Hongbin, 2003. "Bank discrimination in transition economies: ideology, information, or incentives?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 387-413, September.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    9. Firth, Michael & Lin, Chen & Liu, Ping & Wong, Sonia M.L., 2009. "Inside the black box: Bank credit allocation in China's private sector," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1144-1155, June.
    10. Shameek Konar & Mark A. Cohen, 2001. "Does The Market Value Environmental Performance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 281-289, May.
    11. Djankov, Simeon & McLiesh, Caralee & Shleifer, Andrei, 2007. "Private credit in 129 countries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 299-329, May.
    12. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    13. Berger, Allen N. & Espinosa-Vega, Marco A. & Frame, W. Scott & Miller, Nathan H., 2011. "Why do borrowers pledge collateral? New empirical evidence on the role of asymmetric information," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 55-70, January.
    14. Zhang, Qi & Yu, Zhi & Kong, Dongmin, 2019. "The real effect of legal institutions: Environmental courts and firm environmental protection expenditure," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    15. Raj Chetty & Adam Looney & Kory Kroft, 2009. "Salience and Taxation: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1145-1177, September.
    16. Mark P. Sharfman & Chitru S. Fernando, 2008. "Environmental risk management and the cost of capital," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 569-592, June.
    17. Goss, Allen & Roberts, Gordon S., 2011. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1794-1810, July.
    18. Chen, Peter F. & He, Shaohua & Ma, Zhiming & Stice, Derrald, 2016. "The information role of audit opinions in debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 121-144.
    19. Xingqiang Du & Wei Jian & Quan Zeng & Yingying Chang, 2018. "Do Auditors Applaud Corporate Environmental Performance? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1049-1080, September.
    20. Sam, Abdoul G. & Zhang, Xiaodong, 2020. "Value relevance of the new environmental enforcement regime in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    21. Laurence Booth & Varouj Aivazian & Asli Demirguc‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2001. "Capital Structures in Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 87-130, February.
    22. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Tan, Weiqiang & Wang, Wenming, 2020. "Where do banks value corporate social responsibility more? Evidence on the role of national culture," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    23. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and the cost of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 1-23, April.
    24. Nguyen, Justin Hung & Phan, Hieu V., 2020. "Carbon risk and corporate capital structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    25. Hong Ru, 2018. "Government Credit, a Double†Edged Sword: Evidence from the China Development Bank," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(1), pages 275-316, February.
    26. H. L. Zou & R. C. Zeng & S. X. Zeng & Jonathan J. Shi, 2015. "How Do Environmental Violation Events Harm Corporate Reputation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 836-854, December.
    27. Hongtao Shen & Huiying Wu & Wenbin Long & Le Luo, 2021. "Environmental Performance of Firms and Access to Bank Loans," The International Journal of Accounting (TIJA), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 56(02), pages 1-37, June.
    28. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    29. Baker, Andrew C. & Larcker, David F. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2022. "How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 370-395.
    30. Jiaxing You & Bohui Zhang & Le Zhang, 2018. "Who Captures the Power of the Pen?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 43-96.
    31. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    32. Liu, Zheng & Shen, Hongtao & Welker, Michael & Zhang, Ning & Zhao, Yang, 2021. "Gone with the wind: An externality of earnings pressure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).
    33. Doruk Cengiz & Arindrajit Dube & Attila Lindner & Ben Zipperer, 2019. "The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1405-1454.
    34. Beatty, Anne & Ramesh, K. & Weber, Joseph, 2002. "The importance of accounting changes in debt contracts: the cost of flexibility in covenant calculations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 205-227, June.
    35. Chy, Mahfuz & De Franco, Gus & Su, Barbara, 2021. "The effect of auditor litigation risk on clients' access to bank debt: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1).
    36. Jody Grewal & Edward J. Riedl & George Serafeim, 2019. "Market Reaction to Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 3061-3084, July.
    37. Ghosh, Aloke(Al) & Tang, Charles Y., 2015. "Assessing financial reporting quality of family firms: The auditors׳ perspective," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 95-116.
    38. Jing LI, 2013. "Accounting Conservatism and Debt Contracts: Efficient Liquidation and Covenant Renegotiation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1082-1098, September.
    39. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    40. Dasgupta, Susmita & Hettige, Hemamala & Wheeler, David, 2000. "What Improves Environmental Compliance? Evidence from Mexican Industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 39-66, January.
    41. Brian J. Bushee & John E. Core & Wayne Guay & Sophia J.W. Hamm, 2010. "The Role of the Business Press as an Information Intermediary," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-19, March.
    42. Irani, Rustom M. & Oesch, David, 2016. "Analyst Coverage and Real Earnings Management: Quasi-Experimental Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(2), pages 589-627, April.
    43. Garber, Steven & Hammitt, James K., 1998. "Risk Premiums for Environmental Liability: Does Superfund Increase the Cost of Capital?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 267-294, November.
    44. Liao, Lin & Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2015. "Gender diversity, board independence, environmental committee and greenhouse gas disclosure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 409-424.
    45. 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.
    46. Jun Qian & Philip E. Strahan, 2007. "How Laws and Institutions Shape Financial Contracts: The Case of Bank Loans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(6), pages 2803-2834, December.
    47. Barth, Me & Mcnichols, Mf, 1994. "Estimation And Market Valuation Of Environmental Liabilities Relating To Superfund Sites," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32, pages 177-209.
    48. Raymond J. Burby & Robert G. Paterson, 1993. "Improving compliance with state environmental regulations," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(4), pages 753-772.
    49. Pan, Xiaofei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2016. "Family control and loan collateral: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 53-68.
    50. Kangtao Ye & Ran Zhang, 2011. "Do Lenders Value Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 197-206, December.
    51. Yankun Zhou & Le Luo & Hongtao Shen, 2022. "Community pressure, regulatory pressure and corporate environmental performance," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 368-392, May.
    52. 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.
    53. Nandy, Monomita & Lodh, Suman, 2012. "Do banks value the eco-friendliness of firms in their corporate lending decision? Some empirical evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 83-93.
    54. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    55. Lancaster, Tony, 2000. "The incidental parameter problem since 1948," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 391-413, April.
    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. Carnevale, Concetta & Drago, Danilo, 2024. "Do banks price ESG risks? A critical review of empirical research," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Bai, Min & Shen, Luxi & Li, Yue & Yu, Chia-Feng (Jeffrey), 2024. "Does legal justice promote stakeholder justice? Evidence from a judicial reform in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Wang, Congcong & Wang, Chong & Long, Huaigang & Zaremba, Adam & Zhou, Wenyu, 2024. "Green bond credit spreads and bank loans in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(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. Zhou, Yankun & Tang, Taijie & Luo, Le, 2023. "Is corporate environmental investment a strategic risk management tool? Evidence from short selling threats," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Xingqiang Du & Jianying Weng & Quan Zeng & Yingying Chang & Hongmei Pei, 2017. "Do Lenders Applaud Corporate Environmental Performance? Evidence from Chinese Private-Owned Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 179-207, June.
    3. Qiang Li & Wenjuan Ruan & Huimin Shi & Erwei Xiang & Feida (Frank) Zhang, 2022. "Corporate environmental information disclosure and bank financing: Moderating effect of formal and informal institutions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2931-2946, November.
    4. Nguyen, Justin Hung & Shi, Jing, 2021. "Are banks really special? Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Chy, Mahfuz & Kyung, Hoyoun, 2023. "The effect of bond market transparency on bank loan contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    6. Wenbin Long & Le Luo & Hongfeng Sun & Qiqi Zhong, 2023. "Does going abroad lead to going green? Firm outward foreign direct investment and domestic environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 484-498, January.
    7. Guangming Gong & Si Xu & Xun Gong, 2018. "On the Value of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Empirical Investigation of Corporate Bond Issues in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 227-258, June.
    8. Kose John & Mahsa S Kaviani & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Hosein Maleki, 2021. "Do Country-Level Creditor Protections Affect Firm-Level Debt Structure Concentration? [Why not a political Coase theorem? Social conflict, commitment, and politics]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 25(6), pages 1677-1725.
    9. Liu, Yixin & Liu, Yu & Wei, Zuobao, 2022. "Property rights protection, financial constraint, and capital structure choices: Evidence from a Chinese natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Tsang, Albert & Frost, Tracie & Cao, Huijuan, 2023. "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    11. Gong, Di & Xu, Jiajun & Yan, Jianye, 2023. "National development banks and loan contract terms: Evidence from syndicated loans," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Fard, Amirhossein & Javadi, Siamak & Kim, Incheol, 2020. "Environmental regulation and the cost of bank loans: International evidence," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    13. Fang, Yiwei & Hasan, Iftekhar & Marton, Katherin, 2014. "Institutional development and bank stability: Evidence from transition countries," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 160-176.
    14. Fonseka, Mohan & Rajapakse, Theja & Richardson, Grant, 2019. "The effect of environmental information disclosure and energy product type on the cost of debt: Evidence from energy firms in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 159-182.
    15. Eliwa, Yasser & Aboud, Ahmed & Saleh, Ahmed, 2021. "ESG practices and the cost of debt: Evidence from EU countries," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "How the Market Values Greenwashing? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 547-574, May.
    17. Wang, Lu & Su, Zhong-qin & Fung, Hung-Gay & Jin, Hong-min & Xiao, Zuoping, 2021. "Do CEOs with academic experience add value to firms? Evidence on bank loans from Chinese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    18. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    19. Wang, Jin-Meng & Cheng, Teng Yuan, 2023. "Do the differences in legal systems hinder international enterprises’ debt financing?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    20. Dak-Adzaklo, Cephas Simon Peter & Wong, Raymond M.K., 2024. "Corporate governance reforms, societal trust, and corporate financial policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental enforcement; Bank loan; Environmental risk; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • 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
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

    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:jbfina:v:153:y:2023:i:c:s0378426623001061. 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/jbf .

    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.