Does Environmental Information Disclosure Benefit Waste Discharge Reduction? Evidence from China

• Published in: Journal of business ethics Vol. 129; no. 3; pp. 535 - 552
• Main Authors: Huang, Rongbing, Chen, Danping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.07.2015; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business and Management; Business Ethics; Carbon emissions; China; Content analysis; Developing countries; Disclosure; Economic growth; Economic reform; Education; Environmental accounting; Environmental impact; Environmental management; Environmental protection; Environmental regulations; Ethics; GDP; Gross Domestic Product; Hypotheses; Industrial wastes; Information; LDCs; Management; Market entry; Philosophy; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution control; Quality of Life Research; Regulation; Social responsibility; Stock exchanges; Studies; Transition economies; Waste management; China; Environmental information disclosure; Environmental auditing; Institutional emission reduction; China; Waste discharge reduction; Content analysis
• ISSN: 0167-4544; 1573-0697
• DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2173-0

As a tool for regulating the environment in China, does environmental information disclosure reduce pollutant discharge? To answer this question, we empirically analyzed the emission data of "the three wastes" (i.e., waste gas, wastewater, and solid waste) in unit industrial GDP in 31 provincial units. As a measure to reduce institutional emission, environmental information disclosure only slightly influenced waste discharge reduction in the implementation period of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan of China. Instead, command control and market-based tools significantly affected waste discharge reduction. Representative measures included penalties and charges. With the continuously enhanced pressure of control, environmental information disclosure facilitates the effects of command control tools on waste discharge reduction. Content analysis of environmental information disclosed by sample listed companies in Jiangsu Province was conducted. The disclosure of insufficient environmental information on emission reduction can be attributed to "adverse selection" in system performance (i.e., the selective disclosure trend considering "greenwashing" in the listed companies) and to the limited quality of overall environmental information disclosure. This study provides empirical evidence for Chinese policy makers to improve the system for environmental information disclosure of listed companies.