Study On The Impact Of Environmental Information Disclosure Quality On Total Factor Productivity Of Enterprises

Environmental pollution and damage have become increasingly serious in the process of rapid economic development,and solving environmental problems has become an indispensable and important part since the economy has shifted to high-quality development.In the past,when facing environmental pollution problems,the state adopted a combination of command and incentive-based environmental regulation strategies to restrain heavily polluted areas and enterprises.However,with the rapid development of the network economy,the higher the degree of environmental information disclosure,the more effective the enterprises can be in alleviating the information asymmetry with various stakeholders and improving information transparency.Therefore,as an important initiative promoted by multiple parties,environmental information disclosure has gradually become a new ecological governance model and has received wide attention from the government and academia.In this context,in order to vigorously promote high-quality development,the 20 th Party Congress once again emphasized the need to "make efforts to improve total factor productivity".As an important participant in the economic development process,the improvement of total factor productivity of enterprises is the key to achieving high-quality economic development in China.Therefore,in the context of economic and environmental performance,the impact of environmental information disclosure quality on the total factor productivity of enterprises is an issue worthy of further investigation.Based on China’s current policy framework,this study first clarifies the theoretical mechanisms and transmission channels through which environmental information disclosure quality affects the total factor productivity of enterprises based on stakeholder theory,signaling theory,technological innovation theory,and sustainable development theory,and then uses A-share industry listed companies from 2010 to 2021 as the research sample to test the above mechanisms using fixed effects models.The above mechanism is then tested by using the fixed-effect model.On this basis,further heterogeneity analysis and robustness tests are conducted considering that the differences in firm nature,industry and region largely affect the total factor productivity of firms.It is found that:(1)the quality of environmental information disclosure can significantly contribute to the improvement of total factor productivity;(2)the quality of "hard disclosure" in environmental information disclosure has a more significant effect on the improvement of total factor productivity than "soft disclosure";(3)the quality of "hard disclosure" in environmental information disclosure has a more significant effect on the improvement of total factor productivity.(3)In the context of China’s green development,the quality of environmental information disclosure can promote total factor productivity by enhancing green technology innovation capability and alleviating financing constraints;(4)Through further analysis,the impact of environmental information disclosure quality on total factor productivity is more obvious for enterprises in heavily polluted industries and non-state properties;regionally,the impact of environmental information disclosure quality on total factor productivity is strongest in the eastern region,and the impact of environmental information disclosure on total factor productivity is strongest in the central region.productivity is the strongest in the eastern region,and the impact and relevance of enterprises in the central and western regions is lower.Accordingly,the paper makes relevant suggestions at two levels.First,at the enterprise level,first,take the initiative to assume the responsibility of information disclosure and improve the enterprise management system;second,improve the enterprise’s awareness of green environmental protection and increase green technology innovation;third,improve the quality of environmental information disclosure to alleviate the debt financing constraints of enterprises.Secondly,at the government level,firstly,strengthen supervision and strictly formulate reward and punishment mechanisms;secondly,strengthen social supervision and play the role of public participation;thirdly,regulate the market order and give full play to the market mechanism.