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China’s Public Firms’ Attitudes towards Environmental Protection Based on Sentiment Analysis and Random Forest Models

Author

Listed:
  • Cai Li

    (School of Business Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

  • Luyu Li

    (School of Professional Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY 10019, USA)

  • Jiaqi Zheng

    (International College, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100091, China)

  • Jizhi Wang

    (School of Economics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Yi Yuan

    (School of Environment and Energy, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Zezhong Lv

    (School of Economics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

  • Yinghao Wei

    (Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA)

  • Qihang Han

    (Research Institute of Economics and Management, South Western University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China)

  • Jiatong Gao

    (School of Competitive Sports, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Wenhao Liu

    (Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Abstract

In this article, we investigated changes in public firms’ attitudes towards environmental protection in 2018–2021 in China. We crawled the firm–investor Q&A record on the website of East Money, extracted the carbon- and environment-related corpus, and then applied the sentiment analysis method of NLP (natural language processing) to calculate the sentiment weight of each firm-level record to estimate the attitude before and after towards carbon reduction. We found that there were significant changes in firms’ attitudes towards carbon reduction and environmental protection after the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of environment-related policies. We also found a heterogeneous effect of the attitude in different industries. In addition, we built several models to examine the relationship between a firm’s carbon reduction attitude and its financial performance. We found that: A goal with consequent specific policies can raise the positive attitudes of firms toward carbon reduction topics; firms’ attitudes toward ecological topics are different from industry to industry, which means that there are different needs and situations in the trend of carbon reduction from industry to industry. COVID-19 influenced firms’ attitudes toward carbon reduction and environmental protection, calling back the classic dilemma or trilemma of economic growth, carbon reduction, and energy consumption or, perhaps, epidemic control today. The stock situation also influenced the attitude toward environmental protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai Li & Luyu Li & Jiaqi Zheng & Jizhi Wang & Yi Yuan & Zezhong Lv & Yinghao Wei & Qihang Han & Jiatong Gao & Wenhao Liu, 2022. "China’s Public Firms’ Attitudes towards Environmental Protection Based on Sentiment Analysis and Random Forest Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5046-:d:799900
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Xiaoguang & Ji, Qiang & Yu, Jian, 2021. "Sustainable development goals and firm carbon emissions: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Kai Li & Feng Mai & Rui Shen & Xinyan Yan, 2021. "Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning," NBER Chapters, in: Big Data: Long-Term Implications for Financial Markets and Firms, pages 3265-3315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Yu, Jian & Shi, Xunpeng & Guo, Dongmei & Yang, Longjian, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and firm carbon emissions: Evidence using a China provincial EPU index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Kai Li & Feng Mai & Rui Shen & Xinyan Yan, 2021. "Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning [Machine learning methods that economists should know about]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(7), pages 3265-3315.
    5. Viola H. A. Heinrich & Ricardo Dalagnol & Henrique L. G. Cassol & Thais M. Rosan & Catherine Torres Almeida & Celso H. L. Silva Junior & Wesley A. Campanharo & Joanna I. House & Stephen Sitch & Tristr, 2021. "Large carbon sink potential of secondary forests in the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Peng Li & Yaofu Ouyang, 2021. "Quantifying the role of technical progress towards China’s 2030 carbon intensity target," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(3), pages 379-398, February.
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