Media Attention, Environmental Information Disclosure and Corporate Green Technology Innovations in China’s Heavily Polluting Industries

Abstract

ABSTRACT Green technology innovation is an effective way to overcome the constraints of combining resources and environment. This paper focuses on the impacts of media attention and corporate environmental information disclosure on green technology innovation of China’s 487 listed heavily polluting companies from 2007 to 2019. The corporate environmental information disclosure was measured using text analytics and data mining and considering the impacts of political connections. The results indicate that: (1) both positive and negative media attention and the quality of environmental information disclosure significantly contribute to corporate green technology innovation, with negative media attention having a more substantial impact than positive media attention; (2) The environmental information disclosure of China’s heavily polluting industries acts as a mediator in the impact of negative media attention on enterprise green technology innovation; (3) Political connection as a moderating factor has a major suppressive impact on the mediating model. This paper enriches the research relevant to the drivers of green technology innovation in enterprises. It also provides new ideas for exploring the research on the influence on green technology innovation behavior from the perspective of political connections.