Voting by mouth: media attention and environmental governance

Abstract

External oversight is critical to enhancing environmental protection. In this paper, we investigate the implication of media attention on corporate environmental governance during the period 2011-2021 by taking China's public companies as samples. The empirical results indicate that media attention can signi cantly and persistently amplify corporate environmental governance, and this result is stable after considering both endogeneity and a series of alternative robustness tests. Additionally, in areas with higher marketization and better rules of law environments, media attention can be better in favor of improving corporate environmental performance. Further analysis nds that media attention is favorable to corporate environmental governance through the "supervisory effect" mechanisms, including raising public awareness, improving internal management e ciency, as well as leveraging innovation to reduce environmental damage. The conclusions of this study provide empirical evidence for enhancing external supervision and corporate governance.

The Energy-Saving Effect of Tax Rebates: The Impact of Tax Refunds on Corporate Total Factor Energy Productivity

“…To reduce the damage caused by pollution, one of the key measures is to increase energy efficiency [8][9][10][11]. China, being the largest producer of industrial goods globally, faces substantial challenges concerning environmental pollution [12,13]. For instance, it has the highest level of carbon dioxide emissions globally, and its energy consumption accounts for a significant proportion of the world's total consumption [14,15].…”