The power of culture: Does Confucian culture contribute to corporate environmental information disclosure?

With the intensification of global environmental issues, corporate environmental information disclosure has received increasing attention. Different cultural and policy backgrounds have led to very different styles of corporate environmental information disclosure behavior. Whether Confucianism, the dominant culture that has influenced China for thousands of years, contributes to corporate environmental information disclosure deserves to be studied. Based on data from 3180 Chinese listed firms, this study confirms the positive effect of Confucian culture on environmental information disclosure. Meanwhile, Taoist culture and environmental regulation can positively moderate this effect. In addition, heterogeneity analysis unveils that Confucian culture plays a greater role in corporate environmental information disclosure for state-owned firms and firms in highly polluting industries, while this role is weakened for firms with a high proportion of female executives and executives with foreign experience. This study links culture and environmental information disclosure, which helps to arouse the attention of whole society to utilize excellent traditional culture and helps the government to formulate effective environmental regulation policies.

Automated summary

With the increasing global environmental issues, corporate environmental information disclosure has gained attention. Different cultural and policy backgrounds have led to diverse styles of corporate environmental information disclosure. This study, based on data from 3180 Chinese listed firms, confirms the positive influence of Confucian culture on environmental information disclosure, which can be moderated by Taoist culture and environmental regulation. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that Confucian culture plays a bigger role in environmental information disclosure for state-owned firms and highly polluting industries, but is weakened for firms with a high proportion of female executives and executives with foreign experience. This study links culture and environmental information disclosure, arousing society's attention to utilize traditional culture and aiding the government in formulating effective environmental regulations.