Original title: Does State Ownership Undermine the Environmental Payoff of Corporate Green Investment? Evidence from China’s Listed Manufacturing Firms
The study looks at listed Chinese manufacturing firms from 2014 to 2023. It finds that firms with more green investment tend to score better on an environmental rating, but this link is weaker for state-owned firms. The researchers suggest green investment can cut pollution and resource use, while also reducing compliance risks and improving disclosure. A patent-based measure did not show the same response, so ratings and patents capture different parts of environmental performance.
Imagine a family buying supplies to make the kitchen less wasteful. The purchases can help, but the result may be small if nobody is responsible for using them well. In this paper, the supplies stand for green investment, the less wasteful kitchen stands for better environmental performance, and the unclear responsibility reflects conditions that may weaken the payoff in state-owned firms.
Companies may spend on cleaner operations without achieving the same environmental gains. The findings suggest that ownership structure matters: state-owned manufacturers may face pressures and accountability gaps that weaken the environmental payoff of green investment.
The study concerns Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2014–2023, so the abstract does not establish that the results apply to other countries, industries, or types of firms. The positive result appears in an ESG environmental rating, while a patent-based outcome does not respond within the sample window. The abstract also notes that the statistical significance of the ownership effect depends on the conditions tested.
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Does State Ownership Undermine the Environmental Payoff of Corporate Green Investment? Evidence from China’s Listed Manufacturing Firms — Ying Liu, Josephine Tan-Hwang Yau, Asri Marsidi — Journal of risk and financial management — doi:10.3390/jrfm19100787
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.