Can Enterprises in China Achieve Sustainable Development through Green Investment?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Background and Hypothesis Testing
2.1. Green Investment and Corporate Sustainability
2.2. The Regulating Role of Government Environmental Subsidies
2.3. Moderating Effect of Investor Attention
2.4. Moderating Effect of Executives’ Overseas Experience
3. Research Methodology and Design
3.1. Data and Samples
3.2. Definition and Measurement of Variables
3.2.1. Explained Variables
3.2.2. Explanatory Variables
3.2.3. Regulating Variables
3.2.4. Control Variables
3.3. Model Design
4. Results of the Empirical Analysis
4.1. Descriptive Statistics and Correlations
4.2. Analysis of Empirical Results
4.2.1. Green Investment and Corporate Sustainability
4.2.2. Moderating Effect of Government Environmental Subsidies on Corporate Sustainability
4.2.3. Moderating Effect of Investor Attention on Corporate Sustainability
4.2.4. Moderating Effect of Executives’ Overseas Experience on Corporate Sustainability
4.3. Robustness Tests
4.3.1. Tests Based on Sample Interval Adjustment
4.3.2. Tests Based on Range Adjustment of Independent Variables
4.3.3. Testing Based on Two-Stage Least Squares
4.4. Extensibility Study
4.4.1. Heterogeneity Analysis of the Nature of Equity
4.4.2. Heterogeneity Analysis of Industry
5. Conclusions
5.1. Discussion
5.2. Conclusions
5.3. Implication of the Study
5.4. Limitations and Future Directions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Symbol | Name | Definition |
---|---|---|---|
Explained variable | SGR | Sustainable Development | Net sales interest rate × total asset turnover × income retention rate × equity multiplier/(1—net sales interest rate × total asset turnover × income retention rate × equity multiplier) |
Explanatory variable | GI | Green Investment | Total environmental investment/total assets at year-end |
Moderating variable | ENVSUB | Government Environmental Subsidies | Total environmental subsidies/current year operating revenue |
ATTEN | Investor Attention | Total number of Google web searches for stock symbols/million | |
OVERSEA | Executives’ Overseas Experience | Number of executives with overseas experience/total number of executives | |
Controlled variable | SIZE | Company Size | Natural logarithm of total assets for the year |
LEV | Asset–Liability Ratio | Total liabilities/total assets | |
ROA | Profitability | Net income/average balance of total assets | |
ATO | Net Asset Turnover Ratio | Sales revenue/average of total net assets at the beginning and end of the period | |
CFLOW | Cash Flow Ratio | Net cash flow from operating activities/total assets | |
GROWTH | Growth | Main business income of this period/main business income of period−1 | |
TOBINQ | Tobin Q | (Outstanding market value + non-marketable par value/total assets − net intangible assets − net goodwill) | |
SOE | Nature of Equity | State-controlled = 1; otherwise = 0 | |
AGE | Enterprise Age | Ln (enterprise observation year − registration year + 1) | |
INDUSTRY | Industry | Industry dummy variable, belonging to the corresponding year = 1, otherwise = 0 | |
YEAR | Year | Time dummy variable, belonging to the corresponding year = 1, otherwise = 0 |
Year | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sample | N = 0 | N = 999 | N = 1157 | N = 1294 | N = 1337 | N = 1236 | N = 1333 | N = 1586 | N = 1764 | N = 2016 | N = 2057 |
Variable | N | Mean | SD | Min | p50 | Max | Skewness | Kurtosis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SGR | 14,779 | 0.031 | 0.078 | −0.057 | 0.008 | 0.633 | 5.196 | 35.499 |
GI | 14,779 | 0.045 | 0.005 | 0.034 | 0.045 | 0.057 | 0.033 | 2.540 |
ENVSUB | 14,779 | 0.046 | 0.016 | 0.018 | 0.043 | 0.119 | 1.614 | 7.182 |
ATTEN | 14,779 | 1.091 | 0.558 | 0.500 | 0.910 | 2.480 | 0.857 | 2.647 |
OVERSEA | 14,779 | 0.071 | 0.082 | 0.000 | 0.053 | 0.385 | 1.501 | 5.309 |
SIZE | 14,779 | 22.424 | 1.328 | 20.029 | 22.216 | 26.272 | 0.747 | 3.287 |
LEV | 14,779 | 0.422 | 0.197 | 0.055 | 0.417 | 0.857 | 0.149 | 2.190 |
ROA | 14,779 | 0.054 | 0.044 | 0.002 | 0.043 | 0.221 | 1.399 | 5.105 |
ATO | 14,779 | 1.313 | 1.089 | 0.148 | 1.006 | 6.888 | 2.454 | 10.775 |
CFLOW | 14,779 | 0.055 | 0.066 | −0.138 | 0.054 | 0.240 | 0.020 | 3.711 |
GROWTH | 14,779 | 0.174 | 0.365 | −0.427 | 0.111 | 2.744 | 3.610 | 23.160 |
TOBINQ | 14,779 | 1.948 | 1.195 | 0.860 | 1.554 | 7.915 | 2.484 | 10.605 |
SOE | 14,779 | 0.400 | 0.490 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1.000 | 0.410 | 1.169 |
AGE | 14,779 | 2.878 | 0.335 | 1.609 | 2.944 | 3.466 | −0.915 | 4.227 |
SGR | GI | ENVSUB | ATTEN | OVERSEA | SIZE | LEV | ROA | ATO | CFLOW | GROWTH | TOBINQ | SOE | AGE | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SGR | 1 | |||||||||||||
GI | 0.174 *** | 1 | ||||||||||||
ENVSUB | 0.310 *** | 0.204 *** | 1 | |||||||||||
ATTEN | 0.145 *** | 0.175 *** | 0.191 *** | 1 | ||||||||||
OVERSEA | 0.207 *** | 0.196 *** | 0.210 *** | 0.260 *** | 1 | |||||||||
SIZE | 0.117 *** | 0.048 *** | 0.078 *** | 0.199 *** | 0.110 *** | 1 | ||||||||
LEV | 0.110 *** | 0.049 *** | 0.142 *** | 0.062 *** | 0.003 | 0.567 *** | 1 | |||||||
ROA | 0.234 *** | 0.058 *** | 0.010 | 0.027 *** | 0.140 *** | −0.098 *** | −0.392 *** | 1 | ||||||
ATO | −0.052 *** | 0.012 | −0.043 *** | −0.009 | −0.036 *** | 0.251 *** | 0.511 *** | −0.055 *** | 1 | |||||
CFLOW | −0.051 *** | −0.032 *** | −0.126 *** | −0.024 *** | 0.026 *** | 0.024 *** | −0.186 *** | 0.471 *** | 0.021 ** | 1 | ||||
GROWTH | 0.328 *** | 0.101 *** | 0.224 *** | 0.047 *** | 0.089 *** | 0.017 ** | 0.067 *** | 0.170 *** | 0.101 *** | −0.014 * | 1 | |||
TOBINQ | 0.038 *** | 0.004 | −0.019 ** | 0.036 *** | 0.079 *** | −0.382 *** | −0.359 *** | 0.379 *** | −0.123 *** | 0.173 *** | 0.037 *** | 1 | ||
SOE | −0.037 *** | 0.005 | 0.016 ** | 0.046 *** | −0.181 *** | 0.388 *** | 0.316 *** | −0.182 *** | 0.180 *** | −0.043 *** | −0.074 *** | −0.177 *** | 1 | |
AGE | 0.004 | −0.022 *** | 0.022 *** | −0.014 * | −0.051 *** | 0.167 *** | 0.142 *** | −0.054 *** | 0.026 *** | 0.045 *** | −0.056 *** | −0.031 *** | 0.178 *** | 1 |
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | SGR | SGR | SGR | SGR |
GI−1 | 1.563 *** | 1.142 *** | 1.186 *** | 0.984 *** |
(8.10) | (7.36) | (7.09) | (6.28) | |
SIZE | 0.016 *** | 0.016 *** | 0.014 *** | 0.014 *** |
(5.13) | (5.42) | (4.67) | (4.64) | |
LEV | 0.131 *** | 0.113 *** | 0.130 *** | 0.117 *** |
(9.59) | (8.74) | (9.60) | (8.80) | |
ROA | 0.727 *** | 0.652 *** | 0.685 *** | 0.619 *** |
(15.71) | (15.10) | (15.22) | (13.99) | |
ATO | −0.018 *** | −0.016 *** | −0.018 *** | −0.017 *** |
(−9.07) | (−8.36) | (−8.56) | (−8.67) | |
GROWTH | 0.044 *** | 0.036 *** | 0.043 *** | 0.042 *** |
(8.60) | (7.23) | (8.53) | (8.62) | |
TOBIN | −0.002 ** | −0.002 ** | −0.003 *** | −0.002 ** |
(−2.48) | (−2.26) | (−3.02) | (−2.12) | |
AGE | 0.003 | 0.001 | 0.019 * | 0.007 |
(0.23) | (0.11) | (1.65) | (0.65) | |
CFLOW | −0.121 *** | −0.097 *** | −0.111 *** | −0.105 *** |
(−7.10) | (−6.26) | (−6.75) | (−6.76) | |
SOE | −0.011 ** | −0.009 * | −0.007 | −0.003 |
(−2.31) | (−1.80) | (−1.39) | (−0.63) | |
ENVSUB | 0.713 *** | |||
(8.33) | ||||
GI−1∗ ENVSUB | 0.013 *** | |||
(8.59) | ||||
ATTEN | 0.024 *** | |||
(6.03) | ||||
GI−1∗ ATTEN | 0.008 *** | |||
(6.80) | ||||
OVERSEA | 0.189 *** | |||
(8.55) | ||||
GI−1∗ OVERSEA | 0.012 *** | |||
(8.35) | ||||
_cons | −0.447 *** | −0.461 *** | −0.469 *** | −0.397 *** |
(−6.69) | (−7.12) | (−6.86) | (−6.26) | |
Firm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Industry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
N | 14,779 | 14,779 | 14,779 | 14,779 |
R2 | 0.198 | 0.262 | 0.223 | 0.251 |
adj. R2 | 0.197 | 0.261 | 0.222 | 0.250 |
F | 32.778 | 38.123 | 32.861 | 37.807 |
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | SGR | SGR | SGR | SGR |
GI−1 | 1.738 *** | 1.290 *** | 1.283 *** | 1.107 *** |
(8.08) | (7.31) | (6.81) | (6.19) | |
SIZE | 0.017 *** | 0.017 *** | 0.016 *** | 0.015 *** |
(5.05) | (5.08) | (4.52) | (4.63) | |
LEV | 0.137 *** | 0.118 *** | 0.134 *** | 0.121 *** |
(9.03) | (8.24) | (9.04) | (8.24) | |
ROA | 0.730 *** | 0.647 *** | 0.679 *** | 0.612 *** |
(14.39) | (13.77) | (13.86) | (12.70) | |
ATO | −0.019 *** | −0.017 *** | −0.018 *** | −0.017 *** |
(−8.11) | (−7.45) | (−7.71) | (−7.87) | |
GROWTH | 0.044 *** | 0.035 *** | 0.043 *** | 0.042 *** |
(8.08) | (6.67) | (8.07) | (8.09) | |
TOBIN | −0.002 | −0.002 | −0.002 ** | −0.001 |
(−1.57) | (−1.45) | (−2.19) | (−1.35) | |
AGE | −0.003 | −0.004 | 0.012 | 0.003 |
(−0.21) | (−0.37) | (1.51) | (0.29) | |
CFLOW | −0.117 *** | −0.093 *** | −0.105 *** | −0.099 *** |
(−6.42) | (−5.44) | (−5.91) | (−5.92) | |
SOE | −0.015 ** | −0.015 ** | −0.011 * | −0.005 |
(−2.55) | (−2.34) | (−1.74) | (−0.86) | |
ENVSUB | 0.772 *** | |||
(8.26) | ||||
GI−1 ∗ ENVSUB | 0.013 *** | |||
(8.23) | ||||
ATTEN | 0.028 *** | |||
(6.61) | ||||
GI−1 ∗ ATTEN | 0.008 *** | |||
(6.34) | ||||
OVERSEA | 0.196 *** | |||
(8.34) | ||||
GI−1 ∗ OVERSEA | 0.012 *** | |||
(8.46) | ||||
_cons | −0.470 *** | −0.472 *** | −0.503 *** | −0.420 *** |
(−6.25) | (−6.44) | (−6.46) | (−5.95) | |
Firm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Industry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
N | 12,722 | 12,722 | 12,722 | 12,722 |
R2 | 0.201 | 0.269 | 0.230 | 0.259 |
adj. R2 | 0.199 | 0.268 | 0.228 | 0.258 |
F | 31.477 | 37.741 | 31.851 | 36.852 |
(1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Variables | SGR | SGR | SGR | SGR |
GIINV−1 | 1.833 *** | 1.201 *** | 1.184 *** | 0.847 *** |
(6.52) | (4.95) | (4.58) | (3.49) | |
SIZE | 0.016 *** | 0.017 *** | 0.015 *** | 0.014 *** |
(5.23) | (5.58) | (4.75) | (4.59) | |
LEV | 0.132 *** | 0.114 *** | 0.131 *** | 0.121 *** |
(9.56) | (8.67) | (9.57) | (8.91) | |
ROA | 0.731 *** | 0.666 *** | 0.692 *** | 0.632 *** |
(15.61) | (15.26) | (15.11) | (14.08) | |
ATO | −0.018 *** | −0.016 *** | −0.018 *** | −0.017 *** |
(−9.14) | (−8.20) | (−8.47) | (−8.75) | |
GROWTH | 0.045 *** | 0.037 *** | 0.044 *** | 0.043 *** |
(8.69) | (7.42) | (8.64) | (8.72) | |
TOBIN | −0.002 ** | −0.002 ** | −0.003 *** | −0.002 ** |
(−2.35) | (−2.09) | (−3.00) | (−2.27) | |
AGE | 0.001 | −0.002 | 0.020 * | 0.009 |
(0.09) | (−0.18) | (1.73) | (0.77) | |
CFLOW | −0.122 *** | −0.102 *** | −0.115 *** | −0.107 *** |
(−7.08) | (−6.47) | (−6.87) | (−6.76) | |
SOE | −0.011 ** | −0.010 * | −0.006 | −0.004 |
(−2.14) | (−1.82) | (−1.18) | (−0.69) | |
ENVSUB | 0.791 *** | |||
(8.50) | ||||
GIINV−1∗ENVSUB | 0.011 *** | |||
(7.67) | ||||
ATTEN | 0.027 *** | |||
(6.27) | ||||
GIINV−1∗ ATTEN | 0.007 *** | |||
(6.75) | ||||
OVERSEA | 0.215 *** | |||
(8.34) | ||||
GIINV−1∗ OVERSEA | 0.010 *** | |||
(8.60) | ||||
_cons | −0.412 *** | −0.436 *** | −0.450 *** | −0.374 *** |
(−6.19) | (−6.75) | (−6.50) | (−5.82) | |
Firm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Industry | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
N | 14,779 | 14,779 | 14,779 | 14,779 |
R2 | 0.191 | 0.244 | 0.214 | 0.239 |
adj. R2 | 0.190 | 0.243 | 0.213 | 0.238 |
F | 32.737 | 36.407 | 32.177 | 35.488 |
First Stage | Second Stage | |
---|---|---|
Variables | GI−1 | SGR |
GI−1 | 4.426 *** | |
2.72 | ||
GImean−1 | 1.056 *** | |
9.14 | ||
SIZE | 0.001 *** | 0.014 *** |
4.23 | 4.14 | |
LEV | 0.003 *** | 0.123 *** |
3.95 | 8.73 | |
ROA | 0.014 *** | 0.686 *** |
6.51 | 13.21 | |
ATO | −0.000 *** | −0.017 *** |
(−3.18) | (−8.44) | |
GROWTH | 0.001 *** | 0.041 *** |
5.86 | 7.73 | |
TOBIN | 0.000 | −0.003 *** |
0.81 | (−2.60) | |
AGE | −0.002 *** | 0.008 |
(−2.84) | 0.64 | |
CFLOW | −0.003 *** | −0.111 *** |
(−3.62) | (−6.20) | |
SOE | 0.000 | −0.013 ** |
1.11 | (−2.50) | |
Firm | YES | YES |
Industry | YES | YES |
Year | YES | YES |
Observations | 14,779 | 14,779 |
R-squared | 0.158 | |
Number of id | 2513 | 2513 |
F | 83.61 | 32.72 |
Kleibergen–Paap rk LM statistic | 72.95(Chi-sq(1) p-value = 0.0000) | |
Cragg–Donald F statistic | 83.32 | |
Kleibergen–Paap rk Wald F statistic | 83.61 | |
10% maximal instrumental variable size | 16.38 |
State-Owned Enterprise | Non-State-Owned Enterprise | |
---|---|---|
SGR | SGR | |
GI−1 | 0.330 * | 2.532 *** |
(1.68) | (8.44) | |
SIZE | 0.011 ** | 0.020 *** |
(2.20) | (4.74) | |
LEV | 0.136 *** | 0.135 *** |
(5.51) | (7.87) | |
ROA | 0.695 *** | 0.731 *** |
(9.80) | (12.13) | |
ATO | −0.015 *** | −0.025 *** |
(−6.22) | (−6.35) | |
GROWTH | 0.051 *** | 0.040 *** |
(6.23) | (6.05) | |
TOBIN | −0.002 | −0.003 ** |
(−1.38) | (−2.24) | |
AGE | −0.019 | 0.016 |
(−1.11) | (0.98) | |
CFLOW | −0.107 *** | −0.119 *** |
(−4.15) | (−5.27) | |
_cons | −0.248 ** | −0.603 *** |
(−2.26) | (−6.60) | |
Firm | Yes | Yes |
Industry | Yes | Yes |
Year | Yes | Yes |
N | 5904 | 8875 |
R2 | 0.168 | 0.228 |
adj. R2 | 0.166 | 0.226 |
F | 12.500 | 24.264 |
Heavily Polluting Industry | Non-Heavily Polluting Industry | |
---|---|---|
SGR | SGR | |
GI−1 | 1.974 *** | 1.312 *** |
(5.92) | (5.58) | |
SIZE | 0.020 *** | 0.013 *** |
(4.30) | (3.33) | |
LEV | 0.090 *** | 0.164 *** |
(4.88) | (8.39) | |
ROA | 0.638 *** | 0.789 *** |
(8.61) | (13.48) | |
ATO | −0.013 *** | −0.022 *** |
(−5.26) | (−7.51) | |
GROWTH | 0.049 *** | 0.041 *** |
(5.24) | (6.89) | |
TOBIN | −0.004 * | −0.002 |
(−1.75) | (−1.59) | |
AGE | 0.030 | −0.012 |
(1.55) | (−0.87) | |
CFLOW | −0.095 *** | −0.132 *** |
(−4.93) | (−5.74) | |
SOE | −0.001 | −0.016 ** |
(−0.06) | (−2.56) | |
_cons | −0.630 *** | −0.347 *** |
(−6.07) | (−4.06) | |
Firm | Yes | Yes |
Industry | Yes | Yes |
Year | Yes | Yes |
N | 5381 | 9398 |
R2 | 0.230 | 0.188 |
adj. R2 | 0.227 | 0.186 |
F | 13.425 | 21.891 |
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Share and Cite
Zheng, S.; Jin, S. Can Enterprises in China Achieve Sustainable Development through Green Investment? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 1787. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031787
Zheng S, Jin S. Can Enterprises in China Achieve Sustainable Development through Green Investment? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(3):1787. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031787
Chicago/Turabian StyleZheng, Sisi, and Shanyue Jin. 2023. "Can Enterprises in China Achieve Sustainable Development through Green Investment?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 3: 1787. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031787