Can environmental information disclosure promote the high-quality development of enterprises? The mediating effect of intellectual capital

The Chinese government has given a high priority to economic high-quality development (HQD) in recent years. This study empirically examines whether environmental information disclosure (EID) can promote corporate HQD using a sample of 302 Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2018. The results show that EID has a positive impact on firms' HQD and intellectual capital plays a mediating role in this relationship. The results remain robust and valid after a series of endogenous and robustness tests. This study significantly contributes to the existing EID literature by exploring the integrated effect of EID on corporate HQD through constructing a comprehensive indicator to measure corporate HQD, which includes economic performance, environmental performance, and social performance. The findings of our study also add impetus for enterprises to improve their EID.

Automated summary

The study found that environmental information disclosure has a positive impact on corporate high-quality development, with intellectual capital playing a mediating role. By constructing a comprehensive indicator to measure corporate high-quality development, this study significantly contributes to the existing literature on environmental information disclosure.