Can government environmental audit improve green innovation?

IF 7.5 1区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Review of Financial Analysis Pub Date : 2025-05-10 DOI:10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104334

Jianhua Tan , Xinyue Zhou , Min Hua , Kam C. Chan

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Abstract

We explore how the implementation of a government environmental audit (GEA) affects corporate green innovations. A GEA is a government audit program that targets environmental issues in a country. Using the 2009 GEA of China as an exogenous event and a sample of Chinese firms from 2001 to 2020, we use a difference-in-differences research design to conduct our analysis. The results indicate more green innovation outcomes in heavy-polluting firms than in non-heavy-polluting firms after the GEA's implementation. We find that corporate environmental investments and the environmental penalty are transmission channels for the impact of GEA on green innovations. Additional analyses suggest that the effects are stronger for firms in regions governed by officials with strong career incentives, located in regions with a low level of marketization, facing a low financial constraint, or belonging to a highly competitive industry. Most importantly, we show that implementing GEA can improve firms' market returns and value.

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政府环境审计能否促进绿色创新？

我们探讨了政府环境审计（GEA）的实施如何影响企业的绿色创新。GEA是一项针对一国环境问题的政府审计项目。本文以中国2009年全球环境指数为外生事件，以2001年至2020年的中国企业为样本，采用差异中的差异研究设计进行分析。结果表明，实施GEA后，重污染企业的绿色创新成果高于非重污染企业。研究发现，企业环境投资和环境处罚是环境影响对绿色创新影响的传导渠道。其他分析表明，在官员职业激励强烈的地区、位于市场化程度较低的地区、面临较低财政约束或属于竞争激烈的行业的公司，这种影响更强。最重要的是，我们表明实施GEA可以提高公司的市场回报和价值。

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 Review of Financial Analysis BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

10.30

自引率

9.80%

发文量

366

期刊介绍： The International Review of Financial Analysis (IRFA) is an impartial refereed journal designed to serve as a platform for high-quality financial research. It welcomes a diverse range of financial research topics and maintains an unbiased selection process. While not limited to U.S.-centric subjects, IRFA, as its title suggests, is open to valuable research contributions from around the world.