The dark side of digital finance: evidence from environmental information disclosure of Chinese listed companies

Purpose This study aims to explore the relationship between corporate environmental information disclosure and digital finance. Design/methodology/approach The authors used Chinese listed enterprises as the sample. Data on digital finance are from the China Digital Inclusive Finance Index published by the Institute of Digital Finance of Peking University, and corporate environmental information disclosure is collected from the China Securities Market and Accounting Research database. Multivariate regression and Stata software were used for data analysis. Findings The findings suggest that digital finance significantly inhibits firms’ environmental information disclosure. Digital finance increases firms’ motivation to meet low-income customers’ demands, which is achieved at the expense of environmental performance, leading to deteriorated environmental information disclosure. Furthermore, this inhibitory effect is exacerbated by managerial power but mitigated by institutional shareholdings and political connections. Practical implications The findings have important implications for policymakers and managers when formulating relevant policies regarding the co-development of digital finance and corporate environmental information disclosure. Social implications Environmental information disclosure is a crucial element in CSR disclosure quality. Originality/value This study enriches the literature on the environmental influences of digital finance by examining the relationship between digital finance and corporate environmental information disclosure, a crucial way through which external stakeholders obtain information about corporate environmental behaviours.