Are firms motivated to greenwash by financial constraints? Evidence from global firms' data

IF 9.4 3区 管理学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting Pub Date : 2022-01-25 DOI:10.1111/jifm.12153
Dongyang Zhang
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引用次数: 46

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is the balance between a firm's economic outcomes and environmental protection. However, investors face increasing difficulties in selecting assets with suitable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies because companies may “greenwash” their activities by, for example, make misleading ESG disclosures. Here, we investigate the determinants that lead to companies engaging in ESG greenwashing. By analyzing international large-cap companies across 47 countries and territories, we create a peer-relative greenwashing score to measure the magnitude of ESG greenwashing by companies. First, we measure and evaluate the greenwashing by analyzing ESG disclosures and creating peer-relative performance scores that consider the level of disclosure and the real ESG performance. Second, we show that companies' greenwashing decisions are motivated by financial constraints and thus the financial environment is a determinant of greenwashing behavior. Third, we describe how intermediation can alleviate financial constraints and decrease greenwashing behavior. Moreover, highly leveraged companies may have increased financial pressure and thus may enhance their greenwashing behavior. Our findings are robust according to several different measurements of financial constraint indicators.

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企业是否出于财政约束而进行“洗绿”?来自全球公司数据的证据
企业社会责任是企业经济成果与环境保护之间的平衡。然而,投资者在选择具有合适的环境、社会和治理(ESG)政策的资产时面临越来越多的困难,因为公司可能会通过例如误导性的ESG披露来“粉饰”其活动。在这里,我们调查了导致公司参与ESG洗绿的决定因素。通过分析47个国家和地区的国际大盘股公司,我们创建了一个同行相对的绿色洗涤得分,以衡量公司的ESG绿色洗涤程度。首先,我们通过分析ESG披露并创建考虑披露水平和实际ESG绩效的同行相对绩效分数来衡量和评估“漂绿”。其次,我们发现企业的“漂绿”决策是由财务约束驱动的,因此金融环境是“漂绿”行为的决定因素。第三,我们描述了中介如何缓解金融约束和减少“漂绿”行为。此外,高杠杆的公司可能会增加财务压力,从而可能会加强他们的绿色清洗行为。根据几种不同的财务约束指标测量,我们的发现是稳健的。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
9.10
自引率
2.00%
发文量
23
期刊介绍: The Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting publishes original research dealing with international aspects of financial management and reporting, banking and financial services, auditing and taxation. Providing a forum for the interaction of ideas from both academics and practitioners, the JIFMA keeps you up-to-date with new developments and emerging trends.
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