Government environmental information disclosure and corporate carbon performance

Abstract

Environmental problem is the key to the healthy development of China’s eco-economy, and the environmental responsibility of micro-enterprises under the vision of “Dual Carbon” has attracted more attention. Under the effect of formal environmental regulation, firms will improve their environmental performance by improving technology and resource utilization. As an informal environmental system, can government environmental information disclosure (GEID) guide firms to actively carry out green innovation, ultimately improve the carbon emission problem of firms, have a positive impact on the carbon performance of enterprises, and provide strong support to protect ecological environment? To address this question, this study used the Pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI) to measure GEID, and empirically tested the impact of GEID on corporate carbon performance using a sample of listed companies involved in China’s mining and manufacturing industries from 2013 to 2018. The study found that the higher the degree of GEID, the better was the corporate carbon performance. However, the improved public participation weakened the effect of GEID on corporate carbon performance. GEID reduced the carbon emission intensity of firms and improved their carbon performance via green innovation. Further research indicated that the enhanced GEID in state-owned enterprises significantly improved carbon performance of firms. This study provides empirical evidence for GEID to improve corporate carbon performance, and also proposes a policy strategy for the government to guide firms to undertake green innovation and promote firms to improve efficient carbon use.