TY - JOUR
T1 - Does Environmental Uncertainty Increase the Likelihood of Greenwashing? The Roles of Government Subsidies and Media Attention
AU - Yang, Xinhui
AU - Liu, Bei
AU - Liu, Zhenhua
AU - Zhang, Jie
AU - Sun, Qingqing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - Previous studies indicate environmental uncertainty aggravates corporate management risk and can lead to changes in operating strategies adopted by corporations. However, the influence of environmental uncertainty on corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies, particularly greenwashing behavior, remains underexplored. This study seeks to examine the impact of environmental uncertainty on corporate greenwashing using a dataset from Chinese listed companies spanning 2011–2020. The empirical findings indicate a positive correlation between the degree of environmental uncertainty and greenwashing. Specifically, a one-standard-deviation increase in environmental uncertainty results in a 0.03 rise, equivalent to a 4.6% increase relative to the absolute value of average greenwashing. Furthermore, we provide evidence that higher subsidies and increased media attention can mitigate the positive impact of environmental uncertainty on greenwashing. Moreover, we observe that this effect is more pronounced in low-polluting companies and state-owned enterprises. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of how the external environment influences operating strategies from the aspect of greenwashing and offers practical recommendations for mitigating greenwashing through the allocation of government subsidies and increased media attention.
AB - Previous studies indicate environmental uncertainty aggravates corporate management risk and can lead to changes in operating strategies adopted by corporations. However, the influence of environmental uncertainty on corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies, particularly greenwashing behavior, remains underexplored. This study seeks to examine the impact of environmental uncertainty on corporate greenwashing using a dataset from Chinese listed companies spanning 2011–2020. The empirical findings indicate a positive correlation between the degree of environmental uncertainty and greenwashing. Specifically, a one-standard-deviation increase in environmental uncertainty results in a 0.03 rise, equivalent to a 4.6% increase relative to the absolute value of average greenwashing. Furthermore, we provide evidence that higher subsidies and increased media attention can mitigate the positive impact of environmental uncertainty on greenwashing. Moreover, we observe that this effect is more pronounced in low-polluting companies and state-owned enterprises. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of how the external environment influences operating strategies from the aspect of greenwashing and offers practical recommendations for mitigating greenwashing through the allocation of government subsidies and increased media attention.
KW - environmental uncertainty
KW - government subsidies
KW - greenwashing
KW - media attention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=86000388756&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/csr.3086
DO - 10.1002/csr.3086
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:86000388756
SN - 1535-3958
VL - 32
SP - 2616
EP - 2629
JO - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
JF - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
IS - 2
ER -