摘要
“漂绿”是一种环境信息披露与实际环境绩效偏离的脱耦现象。企业“漂绿”行为会导致市场逆向选择,引发社会道德危机和信任危机等不良后果,探究其诱因以及相应的防范治理措施对实现人与自然和谐共生的中国式现代化具有重要意义。以2011-2022年中国A股上市公司为样本,探讨新任CEO职业忧虑对企业“漂绿”行为的影响。研究发现:新任CEO职业忧虑会加剧企业“漂绿”行为,增加绿色承诺并减少绿色管理创新和绿色技术创新是新任CEO实现“漂绿”的行为策略。进一步分析,当任职企业为国有企业、大规模企业,以及社会审计监督、媒体监督作用强时,新任CEO职业忧虑对企业“漂绿”行为的正向影响被削弱;绿色创新的“时间溢出效应”能负向调节新任CEO尤其是内部晋升CEO对企业“漂绿”行为的加剧作用。
Greenwashing is a type of speculative behavior in which companies use symbolic and ambiguous expressions to whitewash the environmental information they disclose,but actually lack real green actions.Corporate greenwashing behavior can lead to adverse market choices,trigger a social moral crisis and a crisis of trust,and harm social welfare.Identifying the drivers of corporate greenwashing behavior is of great significance for realizing corporate green transformation and promoting China's green development in the new era.In recent years,the frequent turnover of CEOs in Chinese listed companies reflects the widespread existence of career concerns among CEOs.New CEOs,especially in the early stages of their tenure,face significant challenges.Their capabilities are not yet well understood by shareholders,making corporate performance a critical benchmark for evaluation.This results in a higher probability of their departure and greater short-term performance pressure.Meanwhile,the increasing demand for environmental information disclosure has heightened the pressure on CEOs to make long-term green investments and to disclose relevant information.In the early stages of their tenure,they face dual pressures of financial and environmental performance,leading to higher levels of career concerns compared to other periods.According to the Upper Echelons Theory,individual psychological traits influence decision-making and corporate performance.However,whether career concerns trigger a greenwashing tendency among new CEOs,the means of greenwashing,and potential governance measures have not yet been thoroughly investigated by scholars.Using the data of China's A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022,this paper explores the impact of new CEOs on corporate greenwashing behavior from the perspective of new CEO's career concerns and analyzes its internal mechanism.After a series of empirical analyses,it is found that,firstly,new CEOs have higher career concerns due to the double pressure of financial and environmental performance,and career concerns will induce new CEOs'opportunistic tendency to exacerbate corporate greenwashing behavior so as to satisfy the shareholders'financial performance assessment standards while meeting the demands for environmental information of the government,consumers and other stakeholders.Secondly,reducing green management innovation and green technology innovation while giving low-cost green commitments is the means used by new CEOs to engage in greenwashing.Thirdly,new CEOs of SOEs have weaker incentives to“go green”than those of non-SOEs because they are constrained by social goals.Compared to small-scale firms,new CEOs of large-scale firms have weaker incentives to“go green”because they are less constrained by resources.Good social audit supervision and media supervision can inhibit new CEOs'greenwashing behavior driven by career concerns.Additionally,because green innovation has a time spillover effect,the new CEO inherits the green innovation investment made by the former CEO,which can effectively weaken the motivation of greenwashing and alleviate the greenwashing behavior of the enterprise,and the inhibition effect is more significant when the new CEO is promoted from within.Based on the above findings,this paper makes several potential contributions to the literature.First,it examines CEOs'career concerns as an individual psychological factor influenced by the dual pressures of short-term financial performance and long-term environmental performance.By revealing how these career concerns affect corporate greenwashing behavior,this study not only extends the theoretical understanding of the hidden motivational factors underlying CEOs'actions but also offers a new perspective on the drivers of corporate greenwashing.Second,the study confirms that increasing low-cost green commitments while reducing green management and technological innovation are key strategies used by CEOs to engage in greenwashing.This finding broadens the analytical scope regarding the relationship between CEOs'psychological factors and their subsequent behaviors,as well as the pathways through which corporate greenwashing is executed.Third,the analysis of the governance roles of internal constraints and external supervision provides insights into effective channels for preventing and managing corporate greenwashing behavior.Finally,the paper empirically tests the existence of the time spillover effect of green innovation and verifies the importance of the inheritance and inculcation of corporate green culture in facilitating the green transformation of enterprises.
作者
高蔚然
Gao Weiran(Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences,Beijing 100142,China)
出处
《科技进步与对策》
北大核心
2025年第13期97-108,共12页
Science & Technology Progress and Policy
基金
国家社会科学基金重点项目(24AGL024)。
关键词
CEO职业忧虑
企业“漂绿”行为
绿色承诺
绿色创新
时间溢出效应
CEO Career Concerns
Corporate Greenwashing Behavior
Green Commitment
Green Innovation
Time Spillover Effect
