Digital transformation and greenwashing in environmental, social, and governance disclosure: Does investor attention matter?

IF 3.6 2区哲学 Q2 BUSINESS Business Ethics the Environment & Responsibility Pub Date : 2023-08-15 DOI:10.1111/beer.12585

Ziyuan Sun, Xiao Sun, Wenjiao Wang, Wen Wang

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Abstract

Governing greenwashing in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure is an important issue, but relevant literature is scant. Based on the data on Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2012 to 2021, we investigate the governance role of corporate digital transformation (DT) in ESG greenwashing and its influencing mechanism. We find that DT significantly inhibits ESG greenwashing. Moreover, DT mitigates ESG greenwashing by enhancing corporate green technology innovation (i.e., innovation channel), reducing information asymmetry (i.e., information channel), and increasing trade credit (i.e., resource channel). From the perspective of investor attention, we find that both retail investors' online opinions and institutional investors' site visits strengthen the inhibitory effect of DT on ESG greenwashing. Furthermore, such an inhibitory effect is more pronounced in large firms, industries with high competition, and regions with strong intellectual property protection. This research provides new insights and policy suggestions for governing corporate ESG greenwashing behavior.

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环境、社会和治理披露中的数字化转型和“漂绿”:投资者的关注重要吗?

治理环境、社会和治理(ESG)披露中的“漂绿”是一个重要问题，但相关文献很少。本文基于2012 - 2021年中国A股上市公司数据，研究了企业数字化转型在ESG漂绿中的治理作用及其影响机制。我们发现，DT显著抑制ESG漂绿。此外，DT还通过加强企业绿色技术创新(即创新渠道)、减少信息不对称(即信息渠道)和增加贸易信贷(即资源渠道)来缓解ESG洗绿。从投资者关注的角度来看，我们发现无论是散户投资者的网上意见还是机构投资者的实地考察都强化了DT对ESG洗绿的抑制作用。而且，这种抑制作用在大企业、高竞争行业和知识产权保护力度强的地区更为明显。本研究为治理企业ESG“漂绿”行为提供了新的见解和政策建议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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