How does ownership structure affect corporate environmental responsibility? Evidence from the manufacturing sector in China

Weijia Dong, Xinyang Dong and Xin Lv

Energy Economics, 2022, vol. 112, issue C

Abstract: Corporate environmental responsibility (CER) has strong positive externalities that affect the environment. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are more likely to devote their resources to CER-related activities to meet the expectations of their ultimate controlling owner (the government). However, previous studies neither explain the transmission mechanism of government ownership on CER nor analyze the differences in such effect between government ownership and non-government ownership (including foreign and private ownership). Therefore, this research discusses the heterogeneous impact of ownership structure on the CER of Chinese manufacturing firms. Results show that government ownership positively influences CER, with the effect being stronger for central government ownership than for local government ownership. Meanwhile, compared with private ownership, foreign ownership has a stronger positive effect on CER. However, the effect of foreign ownership is weaker than that of government ownership on CER. Furthermore, a larger separation of ownership and control inhibits the CER of SOEs yet facilitates that of foreign firms.

Keywords: CER; Ownership structure; Separation of ownership and control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G30 G32 M14 Q51 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:112:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322002717

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106112

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