Proactive Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Energy Enterprises
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Hypotheses
2.1. PCER and CFP
2.2. The Influence of Private Ownership on the Relationship Between the PCER and CFP
2.3. The Influence of Past Performance on the Relationship Between the PCER and CFP
3. Research Methods
3.1. Sample and Data
3.2. Measures
3.2.1. Dependent Variable
3.2.2. Independent Variable
3.2.3. Moderating Variables
3.2.4. Control Variables
4. Results
5. Discussion
5.1. Theoretical Contributions
5.2. Policy Implications
5.3. Managerial Implications
6. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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The Supporting Theory | Standpoint | Definition of the Theory | Influencing Mechanism on the Relationship Between PCER and CFP |
---|---|---|---|
Bargaining theory | Negative relationship | This theory keeps the firm not as a production function but as a governance structure and admits that Minimizing transaction costs is the best governance structure [40]. | The environmental protection activities of a firm will spend its financial resources and improve its costs involved cannot be offset by the benefits from the environmental protection activities [3,25]. |
Resource-based theory | Positive relationship | A firm’s competitive advantage depends on inside and external resources. The resources are composed of tangible resources, intangible resources and personnel-based resources [41]. | CER generates new, competitive resources [30] and provides insurance-like effects for CFP in the face of negative events [31]. |
signaling theory | Positive relationship | Signaling process begin to work, only if it receive the signal what it is looking for [42]. | Firm send a signal of CER practice and therefore gain legitimate status [4]. |
social identity theory | Positive relationship | Organizational identification refer to a perception that the individual evaluate himself or herself according to the organization of which he or she is attached to [43]. | CER has become a key driver of employee identification and influence their subsequent outcomes [34]. |
Neo-institutional theory | Positive relationship | Neo-institutionalism emphasizes the nature and variety of the institutional process and regards CER practices as a result of legitimacy [9]. | CER practice help firm obtain legitimacy and make the company gain unrestricted access to markets, provide the company with access to resources, and improve its long-term profit [11,37]. |
Industry Description | Industry Code | State-Owned | Privately-Owned | Sum of State-Owned and Privately-Owned |
---|---|---|---|---|
Coal Mining and Washing | B06 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
Oil and Gas Mining | B07 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Ferrous Metal Ore Mining | B08 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Non-Ferrous Metal Ore Mining | B09 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Electric Power and Heating Power Generation | D44 | 21 | 1 | 22 |
Total | 42 | 2 | 44 |
Variables | Obs | Mean | SD | Min. | Max. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROA | 254 | 0.045 | 0.069 | −0.691 | 0.2085 |
PCER | 190 | 1.105 | 1.048 | 0 | 4 |
Firm size | 216 | 23.822 | 1.729 | 20.416 | 28.482 |
Private ownership | 254 | 0.047 | 0.212 | 0 | 1 |
Reporting age | 264 | 6.136 | 0.945 | 3 | 9 |
Variables | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROA | 1 | ||||
ROAt-1 | 0.7035 | ||||
PCERt-1 | 0.1472 | 0.0154 | |||
Firm size | 0.0804 | 0.1091 | 0.153 | ||
Private ownership | 0.1514 | 0.1843 | 0.0909 | −0.0426 | |
Reporting age | −0.0535 | −0.1317 | −0.1172 | −0.136 | 0.0163 |
Variables | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | Model 4 | Model 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ROAt-1 | 0.374 *** | 0.450 *** | 0.411 *** | 0.569 *** | 1.599 ** |
(2.86) | (3.26) | (2.69) | (2.90) | (2.47) | |
Firm Size | −0.024 * | −0.017 | 0.004 | 0.001 | 0.025 |
(−1.80) | (−1.16) | (0.24) | (0.05) | (0.68) | |
PCERt | −0.004 | ||||
(−1.23) | |||||
PCERt-1 | 0.007 * | 0.009 * | 0.054 ** | ||
(1.78) | (1.92) | (2.03) | |||
PCERt-1 * ROAt-1 | −0.084 | −0.383 | |||
(−1.52) | (−1.15) | ||||
PCERt-1 * Private ownership | 0.040 ** | 0.043 * | |||
(2.26) | (1.79) | ||||
Industry Dummy | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Reporting age | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
_cons | 0.612 * | 0.443 | −0.074 | −0.009 | |
(1.88) | (1.23) | (−0.19) | (-0.02) | ||
r2_a | 0.095 | 0.152 | 0.455 | 0.444 | |
Observations | 168 | 151 | 143 | 143 | 127 |
Sargan test | 0.536 |
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Jiang, Y.; Xue, X.; Xue, W. Proactive Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Energy Enterprises. Sustainability 2018, 10, 964. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10040964
Jiang Y, Xue X, Xue W. Proactive Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Energy Enterprises. Sustainability. 2018; 10(4):964. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10040964
Chicago/Turabian StyleJiang, Ying, Xiaolong Xue, and Weirui Xue. 2018. "Proactive Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Energy Enterprises" Sustainability 10, no. 4: 964. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10040964