Greenwashing and market value of firms: An empirical study

IF 9.8 1区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL

International Journal of Production Economics Pub Date : 2025-03-21 DOI:10.1016/j.ijpe.2025.109606

Mao Xu , Ying Kei Tse , Ruoqi Geng , Zhenyuan Liu , Andrew Potter

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In today's business environment, green or sustainable claims are rising as companies strive to strengthen environmental practices in response to climate change and sustainable development challenges. However, with increasing expectations of sustainable performance, companies encounter mounting financial pressure to adopt more efficient sustainable practices, which may lead some to exploit sustainability efforts for their own gain. Many companies make environmentally friendly assertions to conceal or mask their actual activities—a phenomenon known as greenwashing—which fosters public scepticism about the authenticity of their green messaging. This study employs an event study methodology to examine how the stock market values greenwashing news, drawing on 121 global greenwashing news since the 2015 Paris Agreement. Our findings reveal a negative correlation between greenwashing news and stock market reactions. The market reactions to greenwashing news are more negative for firms with greater ESG performance than for weak ESG performance. Additionally, greenwashing news supported by concrete evidence elicits stronger adverse reactions. Companies operating in the manufacturing industry experience more significant market value losses than those in the service sector. The findings also indicate that the Asia-Pacific market demonstrates particularly strong negative responses to greenwashing news compared to other stock markets. This study contributes to the signalling theory and advances the literature on corporate sustainability practices by providing empirical insights in a global context.

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“漂绿”与企业市值：实证研究

在当今的商业环境中，随着公司努力加强环境实践以应对气候变化和可持续发展挑战，绿色或可持续的主张正在上升。然而，随着对可持续绩效的期望越来越高，公司在采用更有效的可持续做法方面面临越来越大的财务压力，这可能导致一些公司利用可持续发展的努力来谋取自己的利益。许多公司宣称环保是为了掩盖或掩盖他们的实际活动——一种被称为“漂绿”的现象——这助长了公众对其绿色信息真实性的怀疑。本研究采用事件研究方法，利用2015年《巴黎协定》以来的121条全球漂绿新闻，考察了股市对漂绿新闻的评价。我们的研究结果显示，漂绿新闻与股市反应之间存在负相关关系。与ESG表现较差的公司相比，市场对“漂绿”新闻的反应对ESG表现较好的公司更为负面。此外，有具体证据支持的“洗绿”新闻会引发更强烈的不良反应。在制造业经营的公司比在服务业经营的公司经历更大的市场价值损失。研究结果还表明，与其他股市相比，亚太市场对“漂绿”新闻的负面反应尤为强烈。本研究为信号理论做出了贡献，并通过提供全球背景下的实证见解，推进了有关企业可持续发展实践的文献。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Production Economics 管理科学-工程：工业

CiteScore

21.40

自引率

7.50%

发文量

266

审稿时长

52 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Production Economics focuses on the interface between engineering and management. It covers all aspects of manufacturing and process industries, as well as production in general. The journal is interdisciplinary, considering activities throughout the product life cycle and material flow cycle. It aims to disseminate knowledge for improving industrial practice and strengthening the theoretical base for decision making. The journal serves as a forum for exchanging ideas and presenting new developments in theory and application, combining academic standards with practical value for industrial applications.