China’s financial sector sustainability and “green finance” disclosures

Shidi Dong, Lei Xu and Ron McIver

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 353-384

Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to provide a longitudinal analysis of influences on China’s financial sector’s sustainability reporting practices, examines “green finance” disclosures and undertakes subsector comparisons. The state’s impact on the quantity and quality of reporting practices is analyzed. Design/methodology/approach - Content analysis is used to examine the volumes, frequency and content of sustainability disclosures by China’s financial institutions. Survival analysis is used to identify factors significant in firms’ initiation of these disclosures. In total, 308 firm-year observations on disclosures are examined for 2007–2016. Findings - China’s financial sector’s sustainability reporting pieces of evidence an “emerging stage” (2007–2009), “developing stage” (2010) and “greening stage” (2011–2016). The roles of institutional theory and regulatory pressure in explaining Chinese financial firms’ reporting behaviours are supported. Research limitations/implications - This study has several limitations. Firstly, given data restrictions, use of a relatively small sample size. Secondly, it examines different categories of disclosures made by financial firms, not more detailed content. Thirdly, is the potential overlap in disclosure themes under the classification scheme. Practical implications - China’s financial sector’s adoption of sustainability reporting has been institutionalized, mainly in its banking subsector, consistent with general regulatory pressures. Social implications - “Greening the finance system” is examined in China’s context, as the country transforms from a resource and pollution-intensive to a green economy. Originality/value - The financial sector is normally excluded from in-depth qualitative research. This study examines China’s financial sector’s responses to recent governmental pressures on green finance disclosures.

Keywords: Content analysis; Sustainability reporting; Institutional theory; Survival analysis; Financial institutions; Green finance disclosures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:sampjp:sampj-10-2018-0273

DOI: 10.1108/SAMPJ-10-2018-0273

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal is currently edited by Prof Carol Adams

More articles in Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().