Environmental Legitimacy, Green Innovation, and Corporate Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from CDP China 100

Dayuan Li (), Min Huang, Shenggang Ren, Xiaohong Chen and Lutao Ning
Additional contact information
Dayuan Li: Central South University
Min Huang: Central South University
Shenggang Ren: Central South University
Xiaohong Chen: Central South University
Lutao Ning: Queen Mary University of London

Journal of Business Ethics, 2018, vol. 150, issue 4, No 11, 1089-1104

Abstract: Abstract Firms worldwide are increasingly required to disclose (and make efforts to reduce) their carbon emissions due to the environmental damage associated with climate change. Because there has been no previous literature focusing on the determinants of corporate carbon disclosure integrating environmental legitimacy and green innovation, the present study attempted to develop an original framework to fill the research gap. This study explored the influence of environmental legitimacy (an external informal mechanism) on corporate carbon disclosure, and investigated the role of green innovation (an internal formal mechanism) as a mediator. With the samples of Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in China from 2008 to 2012, the results demonstrate that environmental legitimacy significantly negatively influences the likelihood of corporate carbon disclosure, and that green process innovation mediates the relationship, while green product innovation has no significant mediating effect. It means that environmental legitimacy not only directly affects the likelihood of corporate carbon disclosure, but also indirectly affects it via green process innovation. Hence, companies must increase both informal and formal mechanisms, i.e., external environmental legitimacy and internal green process innovation, to engage in carbon information disclosure and ensure sustainability.

Keywords: Environmental legitimacy; Corporate carbon disclosure; Green product innovation; Green process innovation; Carbon Disclosure Project; China; Emerging economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (177)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3187-6

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