What Role Do Directors’ Networks Play in Corporate Brownwashing?

Wenqin Li, Rong Ding and W. Wenqin Li ()
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Rong Ding: NEOMA - Neoma Business School
W. Wenqin Li: Audencia Business School

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Abstract: ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of board of directors' network on corporate brownwashing, utilizing hand‐collected data from Chinese A‐share listed companies in heavily polluting industries between 2012 and 2020. The results indicate that directors' network is negatively associated with corporate brownwashing. Additionally, the effect is more pronounced when a firm (1) has more interlocked directors with overseas backgrounds and (2) has more geographically close directors. Furthermore, we find that the impact of directors' network on brownwashing is stronger for firms with a higher commitment to corporate social responsibilities and facing more intense market competition. These findings, which are robust to a set of sensitivity checks, have important implications for regulators and practitioners.

Keywords: directors’ network; brownwashing; heavily polluting industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-net
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05576705v1
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Published in Business ethics, the environment & responsibility, 2026, 35 (1), pp.367-390. ⟨10.1111/beer.12793⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05576705

DOI: 10.1111/beer.12793

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