异质性环境规制与企业盈余信息质量

The Heterogeneous Environmental Regulation and the Earnings Information Quality

层出不穷的环境污染事件加剧了生态环境质量改善压力,导致环境规制持续升级。异质性环境规制如何影响微观企业盈余信息质量?文章以沪深两市A股重污染上市公司为研究样本,实证检验异质性环境规制对企业盈余信息质量的影响。研究发现,显性环境规制对企业盈余信息质量具有抑制作用,其机制在于融资约束、环保投资和媒体关注。隐性环境规制对企业盈余信息质量具有促进作用,其机制在于融资约束和媒体关注。异质性检验发现,上述抑制作用在低产品市场竞争和公司风险较高的情况下更显著,上述促进作用在高产品市场竞争和公司风险较低的情况下更显著。进一步检验发现,环境补贴和公众参与是影响企业盈余信息质量的主要环境规制。考虑盈余调整方向的检验结果显示,显性环境规制对企业盈余信息质量的抑制作用在向上盈余调整的情况下越显著。2013年“大气十条”政策实施后,企业显著调高了可操纵应计利润。

The endless environmental pollution incidents aggravate the pressure of ecological environment quality improvement, leading to the continuous upgrading of environmental regulation. What effects will heterogeneous environmental regulation have on the earnings information quality? This paper empirically tests the impacts of heterogeneous environmental regulation on the quality of earnings information based on the data of A-share heavy polluting listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The research results show that explicit environmental regulation can inhibit the quality of earnings information, which lies in financing constraints, environmental protection investment and media attention. Implicit environmental regulation can promote the quality of earnings information, which lies in financing constraints and media attention.Cross-sectional tests indicate that the inhibition effect of explicit environmental regulation is more significant when the product market competition is lower and the corporate risk is higher. The promotion effect of implicit environmental regulation is more significant when the product market competition is higher and the corporate risk is lower. Further tests indicate that environmental subsidies and public participation are the main environmental regulations that affect the quality of earnings information. The test results considering the direction of earnings adjustment show that the inhibitory effect of explicit environmental regulation is significant only in the case of upward earnings adjustment.After the implementation of the Atmosphere Ten Articles policy in 2013, heavy polluters significantly increase their discretionary accruals.