Research On The Influence Of Directors’ Professional Background And Firm Size On The Quality Of Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure

With the frequent occurrence of environmental pollution incidents in enterprises,corporate environmental information disclosure has become the focus of attention from all walks of life.However,the quality of environmental information disclosure of Chinese enterprises is still low.How to improve the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure has become an urgent problem to be solved in the business administration discipline.It has been found that the directors’ professional background and the firm size will affect the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.However,few studies examine the impact of directors’ professional background on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure from the perspective of directors’ functional differences;and explore the impact of firm size on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure,as well as the interaction of firm size and directors’ professional background on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.These issues are of great significance for improving the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.Based on stakeholder theory,legality theory,high-order theory and signal transmission theory,using the data of listed companies in Shanghai-Shenzhen A-share heavy pollution industry from 2010 to 2016,and through the Tobit model and Heckman two-stage model,this paper examines the factors affecting the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure from the perspective of directors’ professional background and firm size.And by dividing the decision-making process of corporate environmental information disclosure,the two-part model is used to examine the internal process of directors’ professional background and firm size affecting the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.Research content of this paper:(1)The influence of directors’ business administration professional background and legal professional background on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure and the decision-making process.(2)The impact of firm size on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure and the decision-making process.(3)The interactive influence of chairman’s business administration professional background and firm size on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure and the decision-making process.(4)The interactive influence of legal background of independent directors and firm size on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure and the decision-making process.Research findings of this paper:(1)The directors’ business administration professional background enhances the initiative and quality of corporate environmental information disclosure;while the directors’ legal professional background reduces the initiative and quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.(2)The firm size has increased the initiative and quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.(3)The chairman’s business administration professional background does not influence the initiative of corporate environmental information disclosure,but it can improve the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.(4)The chairman’s business administration professional background and the firm size have mutually reinforcing interactions with the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure,and are mainly reflected in the decision-making stage of the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.(5)The legal professional background of independent directors can reduce the initiative and quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.(6)The legal professional background of independent directors and the firm size have mutually reinforcing interactions with the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure,and are mainly reflected in the decision-making stage of the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.Innovation of this paper:(1)This paper investigates the impact of directors’ professional background on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure,from the perspective of directors’ functional differences.(2)This paper investigates the impact of firm size on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure,as well as the interaction between firm size and directors’ professional background on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.(3)This paper investigates the influence of directors’ professional background and firm size on the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure at different decision-making stages of the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure.