IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i2p528-d132111.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can More Environmental Information Disclosure Lead to Higher Eco-Efficiency? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yantuan Yu

    (School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, 109 Road Shijiachong, Yuelu District, Changsha 410079, China)

  • Jianhuan Huang

    (School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, 109 Road Shijiachong, Yuelu District, Changsha 410079, China)

  • Nengsheng Luo

    (School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, 109 Road Shijiachong, Yuelu District, Changsha 410079, China)

Abstract

The present paper investigates the impact of pollution information transparency index (PITI) on eco-efficiency using a novel panel dataset covering 109 key environmental protection prefecture-level cities in China over the period 2008–2015. We apply an extended data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, simultaneously incorporating metafrontier, undesirable outputs and super efficiency into slack-based measure (Meta-US-SBM) to estimate eco-efficiency. Then, the bootstrap Granger causality approach is utilized to test the unidirectional Granger causal relationship running from PITI to eco-efficiency. Results of DEA model show that there exist significant spatiotemporal disparities of eco-efficiency, on average, the eco-efficiency in eastern region is relative higher than those of central/western region. Estimates of ordinary least square (OLS) method, quantile regression, and spatial Durbin model document that the evidence of an inverted-U-shaped relation between PITI and eco-efficiency is supported, and the turning points vary from 0.3370 to 0.4540 with different model specifications. Finally, supplementary analysis of panel threshold model also supports the robust findings. Policy implications are presented based on the empirical results.

Suggested Citation

  • Yantuan Yu & Jianhuan Huang & Nengsheng Luo, 2018. "Can More Environmental Information Disclosure Lead to Higher Eco-Efficiency? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:528-:d:132111
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/528/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/528/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    2. Ben Rejeb, Aymen & Arfaoui, Mongi, 2016. "Financial market interdependencies: A quantile regression analysis of volatility spillover," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 140-157.
    3. Zhang, Bing & Bi, Jun & Fan, Ziying & Yuan, Zengwei & Ge, Junjie, 2008. "Eco-efficiency analysis of industrial system in China: A data envelopment analysis approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 306-316, December.
    4. Arabi, Behrouz & Munisamy, Susila & Emrouznejad, Ali & Toloo, Mehdi & Ghazizadeh, Mohammad Sadegh, 2016. "Eco-efficiency considering the issue of heterogeneity among power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 722-735.
    5. Berlemann, Michael & Wesselhöft, Jan-Erik, 2012. "Estimating Aggregate Capital Stocks Using the Perpetual Inventory Method – New Empirical Evidence for 103 Countries –," Working Paper 125/2012, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.
    6. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    7. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Peng, Hua-Rong & Liu, Zhao & Tan, Weiping, 2015. "Direct energy rebound effect for road passenger transport in China: A dynamic panel quantile regression approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 303-313.
    8. Per Andersen & Niels Christian Petersen, 1993. "A Procedure for Ranking Efficient Units in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(10), pages 1261-1264, October.
    9. George Battese & D. Rao & Christopher O'Donnell, 2004. "A Metafrontier Production Function for Estimation of Technical Efficiencies and Technology Gaps for Firms Operating Under Different Technologies," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 91-103, January.
    10. Fang, Zheng & Chen, Yang, 2017. "Human capital and energy in economic growth – Evidence from Chinese provincial data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 340-358.
    11. Ivan A. Canay, 2011. "A simple approach to quantile regression for panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 14(3), pages 368-386, October.
    12. de Villiers, Charl & van Staden, Chris J., 2006. "Can less environmental disclosure have a legitimising effect? Evidence from Africa," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 763-781, November.
    13. James P. LeSage & R. Kelley Pace, 2014. "The Biggest Myth in Spatial Econometrics," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-33, December.
    14. Stefano Magrini, 2007. "Analysing Convergence through the Distribution Dynamics Approach: Why and how?," Working Papers 2007_13, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    15. Emirmahmutoglu, Furkan & Kose, Nezir, 2011. "Testing for Granger causality in heterogeneous mixed panels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 870-876, May.
    16. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    17. Case, Anne C. & Rosen, Harvey S. & Hines, James Jr., 1993. "Budget spillovers and fiscal policy interdependence : Evidence from the states," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 285-307, October.
    18. Darrell, W. & Schwartz, Bill N., 1997. "Environmental disclosures and public policy pressure," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 125-154.
    19. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    20. Li, Zhi & Ouyang, Xiaoling & Du, Kerui & Zhao, Yang, 2017. "Does government transparency contribute to improved eco-efficiency performance? An empirical study of 262 cities in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 79-89.
    21. 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.
    22. James P. Lesage, 2008. "An Introduction to Spatial Econometrics," Revue d'économie industrielle, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(3), pages 19-44.
    23. Asmild, Mette & Zhu, Minyan, 2016. "Controlling for the use of extreme weights in bank efficiency assessments during the financial crisis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(3), pages 999-1015.
    24. Jun Zhang, 2008. "Estimation of China's provincial capital stock (1952-2004) with applications," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 177-196.
    25. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    26. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    27. Bian, Yiwen & Yang, Feng, 2010. "Resource and environment efficiency analysis of provinces in China: A DEA approach based on Shannon's entropy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1909-1917, April.
    28. Fredriksson, Per G. & Millimet, Daniel L., 2002. "Strategic Interaction and the Determination of Environmental Policy across U.S. States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 101-122, January.
    29. Fang, Zheng & Chen, Yang, 2017. "Human capital, energy, and economic development – Evidence from Chinese provincial data," RIEI Working Papers 2017-03, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration.
    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. Dongdong Ma & Feng He & Guifang Li & Guangjun Deng, 2021. "Does haze pollution affect public health in China from the perspective of environmental efficiency?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16343-16357, November.
    2. Xin Duan & Shengli Dai & Rui Yang & Ziwei Duan & Yanhong Tang, 2020. "Environmental Collaborative Governance Degree of Government, Corporation, and Public," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Xueli Wang & Caizhi Sun & Song Wang & Zhixiong Zhang & Wei Zou, 2018. "Going Green or Going Away? A Spatial Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Environmental Regulations, Biased Technological Progress, and Green Total Factor Productivity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Yanchao Feng & Xiaohong Wang & Wenchao Du & Jun Liu, 2018. "Effects of Air Pollution Control on Urban Development Quality in Chinese Cities Based on Spatial Durbin Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Yonglin Li & Zhili Zuo & Deyi Xu & Yi Wei, 2021. "Mining Eco-Efficiency Measurement and Driving Factors Identification Based on Meta-US-SBM in Guangxi Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-22, May.
    6. Li, Guangqin & Xue, Qing & Qin, Jiahong, 2022. "Environmental information disclosure and green technology innovation: Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Ionica Oncioiu & Anca-Gabriela Petrescu & Florentina-Raluca Bîlcan & Marius Petrescu & Delia-Mioara Popescu & Elena Anghel, 2020. "Corporate Sustainability Reporting and Financial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-13, May.
    8. Sun, Chuanwang & Zeng, Yingfang, 2023. "Does the green credit policy affect the carbon emissions of heavily polluting enterprises?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    9. Boda Xin & Lianhong Lv & Jingjing Dong, 2024. "Spatial–Temporal Development Trends and Influencing Factors of Government Environmental Information Disclosure: Empirical Evidence Based on China’s Provincial Panel Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Yanhong Tang & Xin Miao & Hongyu Zang & Yanhong Gao, 2018. "Information Disclosure on Hazards from Industrial Water Pollution Incidents: Latent Resistance and Countermeasures in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    11. Matheus Belucio & Giulio Guarini, 2023. "Analyzing the Influence of Philanthropy on Eco-Efficiency in 108 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, 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. Yu, Yantuan & Peng, Chong & Li, Yushuang, 2019. "Do neighboring prefectures matter in promoting eco-efficiency? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 456-465.
    2. Omaima A.G. Hassan & Peter Romilly, 2018. "Relations between corporate economic performance, environmental disclosure and greenhouse gas emissions: New insights," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 893-909, November.
    3. Rongbing Huang & Yubo Huang, 2020. "Does Internal Control Contribute to a Firm’s Green Information Disclosure? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Perera, Luckmika & Jubb, Christine & Gopalan, Sandeep, 2019. "A comparison of voluntary and mandated climate change-related disclosure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 243-266.
    5. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan, 2015. "The Economic Relevance of Environmental Disclosure and its Impact on Corporate Legitimacy: An Empirical Investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 431-450, September.
    6. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    7. Nik Nazli Nik Ahmad & Noor Afzalina Mohamad, 2014. "Environmental Disclosures by the Malaysian Construction Sector: Exploring Extent and Quality," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(4), pages 240-252, July.
    8. Dong Ding & Bin Liu & Millicent Chang, 2023. "Carbon Emissions and TCFD Aligned Climate-Related Information Disclosures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 967-1001, February.
    9. Karaman, Abdullah S. & Orazalin, Nurlan & Uyar, Ali & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2021. "CSR achievement, reporting, and assurance in the energy sector: Does economic development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    10. Linyan Fan & Sheng Yao, 2022. "Analyst Site Visits and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Radhakrishnan, Suresh & Tsang, Albert & Liu, Rubing, 2018. "A Corporate Social Responsibility Framework for Accounting Research," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 274-294.
    12. Siddique, Md Abubakar & Akhtaruzzaman, Md & Rashid, Afzalur & Hammami, Helmi, 2021. "Carbon disclosure, carbon performance and financial performance: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    13. Liu, Yang Stephanie & Zhou, Xiaoyan & Yang, Jessica Hong & Hoepner, Andreas G.F. & Kakabadse, Nada, 2023. "Carbon emissions, carbon disclosure and organizational performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Qiu, Yan & Shaukat, Amama & Tharyan, Rajesh, 2016. "Environmental and social disclosures: Link with corporate financial performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 102-116.
    15. Tsang, Albert & Frost, Tracie & Cao, Huijuan, 2023. "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    16. Kounetas, Konstantinos & Stergiou, Eirini, 2019. "Examining eco-efficiency convergence of European Industries.The existence of technological spillovers within a metafrontier framework," MPRA Paper 94286, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. My Hanh Doan & Remmer Sassen, 2020. "The relationship between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: A meta‐analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(5), pages 1140-1157, October.
    18. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam & X. Xu, 2013. "Whether Top Executives’ Turnover Influences Environmental Responsibility: From the Perspective of Environmental Information Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 341-353, May.
    19. Yantuan Yu & Yun Zhang & Xiao Miao, 2018. "Impacts of Dynamic Agglomeration Externalities on Eco-Efficiency: Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, October.
    20. Andrew C. Stuart & Jean C. Bedard & Cynthia E. Clark, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures and Investor Judgments in Difficult Times: The Role of Ethical Culture and Assurance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(3), pages 565-582, July.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:528-:d:132111. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.