Government Information Disclosure Research Articles

Impact of executive pay gap on environmental, social, and governance disclosure in China: Is there a strategic choice?

AbstractThis study investigates the mechanisms through which the executive pay gap affects the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Utilizing panel data from China's A‐share listed firms between 2012 and 2020, our findings reveal a significant positive correlation between the executive pay gap and ESG disclosure, with real earnings management playing a partial mediating role. Notably, the impact of the executive pay gap on ESG disclosure is more pronounced in voluntary disclosure firms and those with low internal control levels, as compared to mandatory disclosure firms and those with high internal control levels. This study provides international evidence for the strategic disclosure behavior of ESG information and the necessity of ESG disclosure regulation.

On the Protection of Personal Privacy in Government Information Disclosure in Public Health Emergencies

The new crown epidemic that swept the world in 2020 has brought huge challenges to the social governance of the Chinese government. In the face of this public health emergency, on the one hand, information disclosure has become a "special medicine" for the government to ensure the safety of people's lives and maintain social stability; How to balance government information disclosure and personal privacy protection in a health event? How can the government information disclosure mechanism be further improved under the perspective of personal privacy protection? How to improve the relief system for government information disclosure infringing personal privacy? The existence of these problems actually puts forward requirements for the improvement of government information disclosure in terms of personal privacy protection in public health emergencies in China, that is, to improve the review mechanism, supervision and accountability mechanism of government information disclosure, clarify the scope of personal privacy disclosure, improve The relief system of personal privacy, thus blazing a path of balance between government information disclosure and personal privacy protection in public health emergencies.

Corporate Governance, Media Attention and Environmental Information Disclosure

Environmental information disclosure is an important element in the modernization of Chinese environmental governance system and governance capacity. Based on two perspectives of corporate governance and media attention, the relationship between the two and corporate environmental information disclosure is analyzed based on the research samples of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed enterprises from 2017-2021. The empirical results of this paper show that: corporate governance and media attention can significantly enhance corporate environmental information disclosure; media attention has a significant moderating effect on corporate environmental information disclosure, which can further strengthen the relationship between corporate governance and environmental information disclosure, and this moderating effect is more obvious in state-owned enterprises.

相对人的政府信息公开申请权问题研究

相对人的政府信息公开申请权问题研究

Study on the Legal Issues of Government Information Disclosure in Emergencies

Study on the Legal Issues of Government Information Disclosure in Emergencies

Effects of corporate governance disclosure on profitability of public listed firms in Tanzania

This study investigated the effect of corporate governance information (CGI) disclosure on firms' profitability in the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). Twenty-one listed companies were studied for a period ranging from 2006 to 2021 using a mixed research method with an explanatory sequential design. Return on equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA) was employed as dependent variables in the panel data analysis. CGI disclosure was an independent variable. The control variables were geographical diversification, firm age, size, and sales growth. Secondary data was obtained from DSE. Qualitative data was gathered via semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis and a random effect model with two estimates (1 and 2) were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. The findings suggested a positive and significant effect of CGI disclosure on firm profitability. The findings add to the body of knowledge by signifying stakeholder theory. The study concluded that Disclosure of CGI might undeniably result in increased profitability. We recommended that firm managers look closely at CGI disclosure, enhance their disclosure practices, and invest in disclosure strategies that benefit stakeholders.

Corporate Governance in Ghana: A Proposal for Multi-Faceted Determinants of Corporate Governance Information Disclosure

Corporate Governance in Ghana: A Proposal for Multi-Faceted Determinants of Corporate Governance Information Disclosure

Environmental, Social and Governance Information Disclosure Strategy of the Ten Main Spanish Listed Companies

Purpose: This article aims to investigate the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) disclosure strategy and its impact on the financial performance of the top ten companies in terms of operating income/turnover volume. Methodology/Approach: The study methods used include parametric correlations and logistic regression analysis focusing on data from Spanish listed companies in 2019-2020. Findings: The findings show that IBEX35 companies need to improve web transparency in ESG reporting and a significant relationship was found between financial indicators and ESG transparency. Companies with the best positions in liquidity and return on assets rank first in non-financial indicators. Finally, it was found that the sector of the company was a significant variable. Research Limitation/Implication: The findings of this research will help define the ESG strategy and understand the relationship between ESG and financial results. One limitation is that the information on the websites changes frequently. However, the results may contribute to being a point of reference for future studies. Originality/Value of paper: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research has been conducted to assess the ESG information disclosure strategy based on its web transparency and the financial performance of major Spanish companies.

ESG performance, investors’ heterogeneous beliefs, and cost of equity capital in China

Previous studies on the relationship between environmental, social and governance (ESG) information disclosure and cost of equity (COE) have found mixed results. They conclude that this relationship may be affected by some attributes of the company inside. In this study, we examine whether investors’heterogeneous beliefs moderates the relationship between ESG performance and COE. Our sample starts with ESG-rating firms included in Huazheng index of the Wind China financial database (WIND) for years 2015–2020. We collect financial information and relevant data from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research database (CSMAR). Using a two-way fixed effect multiple regression model, we report a negative moderate effect of both ESG performance on COE. We also find that COE Is higher when the firm financing constraints increase. Investors’heterogeneous beliefs with a lower (rather than higher) level tends to pay close attention from ESG performance by stakeholders and financing constraints decreases, which then leads to the reduction of investors’ expected risk. We therefore conclude that firms that manage actions on ESG issues have a better choices of release investors disagreements which in turn reduces their equity financing costs.

Effects of Corporate Governance Disclosure on Profitability of Public Listed Firms in Tanzania

This study investigated the effect of corporate governance information (CGI) disclosure on profitability of firms listed in the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). 21 listed companies were studied for a period ranging from 2006 to 2021 using a mixed research method with an explanatory sequential design. Return on equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA) were employed as dependent variables in the panel data analysis. CGI disclosure was an independent variable. Geographical diversification, firm age, firm size, and sales growth were the control variables. Secondary data was obtained from DSE. Qualitative data was gathered via semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis and a random effect model with two estimates (1 and 2) were utilized to analyze qualitative and quantitative data respectively. The findings suggested that there was a positive and significant effect of CGI disclosure on firm profitability. The findings adds to the body of knowledge by signifying stakeholder’s theory. The study concluded that Disclosure of CGI may undeniably result in increased profitability. We recommended that firm managers should pay a closer look at CGI disclosure, enhance their disclosure practices, and invest in disclosure strategies that will benefit stakeholders.

The impact of environmental corruption on green consumption: A quantitative analysis based on China's Judicial Document Network and Baidu Index

In developing countries, green consumption is still in its infancy, and the institutional environment is very important for it. In the implementation of environmental policies to stimulate green consumption, environmental corruption may affect production cost or residents' environmental responsibility. This paper aims to reveal the impact of environmental corruption on green consumption, quantify environmental corruption by collecting the cases of China's Judicial Document Network, and quantify green consumption by constructing an evaluation index system based on Baidu Index. First, baseline results show that environmental corruption is negatively correlated with green consumption. Second, impact path test is carried out from production side, sales side and consumption side. In the production side, environmental corruption inhibits green consumption by weakening green products quality and environmental investment. In the sales side, environmental corruption suppresses green consumption by weakening sales expenses and market share of green products. In the consumption side, environmental corruption inhibits green consumption by reducing government information disclosure and environmental responsibility. Third, threshold effect test is carried out from the perspective of economic basis and human capital basis. The impact of environmental corruption on green consumption is not significant as per capita GDP is lower than 9600 yuan. As the per capita GDP is higher than 13000 yuan, the inhibition of environmental corruption on green consumption is weakened. As the average education is more than 8.14 years, the inhibition effect is significantly weakened. Fourth, this paper compares the spatial impact of different types of environmental corruption on surrounding green consumption by building a spatial Durbin model. Environmental bribery has a higher inhibition on local green consumption, and environmental malfeasance has a higher negative impact on surrounding green consumption.

Quality of Chinese government environmental health information disclosure during COVID-19 pandemic: Satisfaction survey on University students.

Government played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic by disclosing related environmental health information to the public. A satisfaction survey is often used to evaluate the public's satisfaction of the government's information disclosure while reflecting problems in the current disclosure system. As University students generally have better cognitive skills, they efficiently received related information during the pandemic, and therefore 717 questionnaires completed by University students were selected for this study. During the pandemic, the quality of the government's environmental health information disclosure system ranked at 13.89, marginally higher than average. Moreover, the timeliness and content adequacy of the disclosure system ranked at a level slightly above average. By adopting Hayes PROCESS Model 4 and 8, this study found that there is a direct impact of environmental health knowledge and environmental health awareness on satisfaction. Furthermore, University students' environmental health knowledge and awareness enhanced satisfaction through the mediating effect of self-reported environmental behavior. Finally, this study attempted to discover the conditions under which environmental health knowledge and awareness would have a greater direct and indirect influence on satisfaction, that is, the reverse moderating effect of household income level. In addition, this paper offers policy recommendations to enhance quality of government environmental health information disclosure system.

Volunteer Service Participation Emergency Management Information Collection Platform Based on Big Data Technology

In order to fully integrate various emergency management information resources for volunteer service, the author proposes a volunteer service participation in emergency management information collection platform based on big data technology. Taking a municipal government as an example, the current situation of information integration in emergency management is investigated and studied, the needs of various departments are analyzed through interviews and questionnaires, and the problems existing in the government’s information integration are studied. It tries to build a scientific, reasonable, and operational government information integration model based on theories of government information disclosure, government emergency management, and metadata technology. The survey results show the following observation: In the survey results of “the reasons that affect the integration of emergency linkage information of a city government,” the first place is the poor information communication channels between departments, accounting for 22.7%; The second and the third are “administrative system restrictions” and “protection of the interests of the department,” accounting for 21.4% and 19.4%, respectively. It is worth noting that the technical problem of information management is also one of the important factors affecting the government’s emergency response management, accounting for 19.1%. Conclusion. This study analyzes the main shortcomings and reasons of the existing sharing models, so as to construct a reasonable information sharing work model.

Environmental, social, and governance information disclosure and stock price crash risk: Evidence from Chinese listed companies.

According to information asymmetry theory and stakeholder theory, this article explores the impact and mechanism of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information disclosure on the company’s future stock price crash risk based on the A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019. We find that ESG information disclosure significantly reduces the company’s future stock price crash risk. This conclusion remains robust after a series of robustness tests, such as PSM-DID. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative relationship between ESG disclosure and stock price crash risk is more significant in state-owned enterprises, companies with higher agency costs, and when companies in the bull market. The mechanism is that companies choose to disclose ESG information to alleviate information asymmetry problems and enhance corporate reputation capital, thus reducing the future stock price crash risk. This article shows that strengthening ESG construction will help improve the efficiency of China’s resource allocation and promote the capital market development.

Protection of Personal Information in Government Information Disclosure Based on the Administrative Regulation Perspective

Personal information protection is the focus of data security governance, while government information disclosure is a practical need for government administration in the context of the information age. As a public authority, the government's disclosure of information is effectively regulated by the administrative law. The revised Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Disclosure of Government Information protects personal information mainly in terms of administrative procedures for seeking consent, administrative supervision of information disclosure departments, and administrative remedies for infringement of personal information. However, it still faces problems such as low level of legislation, irregular enforcement procedures, lack of supervision, and imperfect supervision and remedy systems. The future protection of personal information needs to further improve the path of administrative regulation of government information disclosure, make up for the shortcomings in legislation and supervision, improve the consultation system of prior notification and information disclosure as well as continue to follow the principle of procedural due process.

Carbon trading market policies and corporate environmental performance in China

As an important practical exploration of energy saving and emission reduction through market mechanism, carbon emission trading market has important theoretical and practical significance on the impact of environmental performance of enterprises. This paper examines the impact of carbon market policy initiation and its improvement on corporate environmental performance. We found that: first, carbon market policy initiation can effectively improve corporate environmental performance; second, the impact of the degree of perfection of carbon market policy on corporate environmental performance has a threshold effect, and the optimal carbon market policy has a perfection interval of [0.723–0.758]; third, both internal corporate governance and corporate carbon information disclosure can form a synergistic effect with carbon market policy to promote corporate environmental performance improvement; fourth, the heterogeneity test shows that the carbon market policy has a more significant effect on the environmental performance improvement of low-cost transfer capability enterprises, high-energy-consuming enterprises and private enterprises. The findings of this paper provide new ideas to further promote the construction of governments carbon market and improve the environmental performance of enterprises.

Conflict analysis and coordination mechanism of ESG Information Disclosure Based on GMCR under the background of double carbon target

In recent years, with the promotion of carbon peak and neutrality policy, the issue of environmental, social and governance (ESG) information disclosure has become a hot topic of common concern to all sectors of society. Through the study of the conflict mechanism in ESG information disclosure, it can help decision makers choose a solution which can be accepted by others and help them develop. By implementing the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR), we construct a conflict model for governments, enterprises, financial institutions and investors in the ESG information disclosure. GMCR can conduct stability analysis based on their preferences, and reach equilibrium results so as to provide a worthy reference plan for multiple parties and build a coordinated development mechanism in which they can rely on and promote each other.

COVID-19 in China: A Rapid Review of the Impacts on the Mental Health of Undergraduate Students.

Public health crises pose challenges for governments and health systems, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented major challenges to humans worldwide. In the context of COVID-19 in China, we explore the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health of undergraduate students. We examine pandemic prevention and control measures in Chinese universities through a rapid review and use our findings to explain the difficulties that undergraduate students face. Moreover, our analysis examines the impacts on five aspects of mental health: emotional aspects, personality, interpersonal relationships, learning behavior and employment options. Additionally, we provide implications in four areas based on the application of the study: strengthening psychological intervention, promoting government information disclosure, improving family communication and adjusting self-awareness.

CSR and idiosyncratic risk: Evidence from ESG information disclosure

Using the corporate social responsibility (CSR) report disclosure as an external shock on investors’ heterogeneous belief in China, we find that firms with environmental, social and governance (ESG) information disclosure have lower idiosyncratic risk than their counterparts. This finding is robust to the parallel-trend assumption, placebo test, PSM-DID design, and alternative idiosyncratic risk calculation. We conclude that CSR engagement could reduce firms’ idiosyncratic risk by providing additional nonfinancial information to reduce investors’ opinion divergence.

Government Information Dissemination During Public Health Emergencies: An Analysis of China's Experiences.

Information disclosure is crucial in China's official response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the early phase of the pandemic, the government's method of communication has relied heavily upon its analysis of information disclosed during past public health emergencies. This approach was proposed to better inform and prepare citizens during the crisis. This study aimed to study the effectiveness of China's information disclosure by examining themes, interconnection, and timeliness of information as posted on the Weibo microblogging platform between January and April 2020. The Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model analysis for social networks revealed six main characteristics including a shift from 'scattered' to 'focused' communication. Three main themes surrounding experience were highlighted, namely social governance, medical expertise, and encouragement, although experiential knowledge disclosure was timelier than other topics. This study broadens the dimension and scope of empirical theory by examining government information disclosure practices and provides a reference for further research.