企业绿色化转型与股价崩盘风险

Firm Green Transformation and Stock Price Crash Risk

企业是实现中国“碳达峰”“碳中和”战略目标的行动主体,绿色化转型是企业将低碳发展理念融入生产经营全过程的重要途径。目前,关于企业绿色化转型经济后果的研究尚未达成一致结论。一方面,出于价值转型动机,绿色化转型将会提高企业价值,获得绿色溢价;另一方面,基于机会主义动机,绿色化转型很可能沦为管理层实现自我包装的工具,虽会获得短暂的收益,但背后却蕴藏着更大的风险。基于以上两种绿色化转型动机,考察企业绿色化转型对股价崩盘风险的影响及其机制。选取2008年至2019年中国重污染上市企业作为研究样本,采用文本分析技术刻画企业绿色化转型水平,实证检验绿色化转型对股价崩盘风险的影响,探讨绿色化转型究竟是提高企业价值的转型利器,还是管理者自我包装的自利工具,并基于内部控制质量、分析师关注和市场竞争对二者关系的异质性影响进行分析。研究结果表明,企业绿色化转型显著抑制股价崩盘风险,价值转型假说得到验证。在经过更换测量方法、剔除干扰样本、改变聚类方法、控制相关变量和考虑样本自选择偏差等一系列稳健性检验后,这一结果依然成立。不同维度的绿色化转型信息对股价崩盘风险的抑制作用具有差异性,战略理念、技术创新和排污治理等绿色转型信息更有助于降低股价崩盘风险。对作用机制的研究结果表明,绿色化转型可以通过提高绿色绩效、降低信息不对称、增强投资者信心3个途径有效降低股价崩盘风险。异质性分析结果表明,当企业内部控制质量越高、分析师关注程度越高、面临市场竞争越激烈时,绿色化转型对于股价崩盘风险的抑制作用越显著。研究强调了企业环境实践信息披露对资本市场稳定发展的重要性,丰富了企业绿色化转型经济后果的研究,对更好地推进绿色化转型具有一定启示。

Firms are the main participants to realize the goals of“carbon peak”and“carbon neutralization”in China.Green transformation is an important way to integrate low-carbon development concepts into the whole process of production and operation.The research on the economic consequences of the green transformation of firms has not yet reached a consensus conclusion.One the one hand,based on value transformation,we argue that green transformation improves firm value and gains green premium.On the other hand,from the motivation of opportunism,we hold the opposite view that firm green transformation is likely to degenerate into a self-packaging tool for managers.Although it may gain temporary benefits,there are greater and more serious risks.Based on the above two motivations of green transformation,this study investigates the effect of firm green transformation on stock price crash risk and its mechanism.Using a sample of Chinese listed firms in heavily polluting industries from2008 to 2019,this study employs text analysis to portray the level of firm green transformation and empirically examines the effect of firm green transformation on stock price crash risk.This study further explores whether green transformation is the transformation tool to improve enterprise value or the self-interested tool for managers to package themselves.Then we also explore the heterogeneity of internal control quality,analyst attention,and market competition on the effect of firm green transformation on stock price crash risk.The results show that firm green transformation can significantly reduce stock price crash risk,which is still valid after a series of robustness tests including using alternative variable measurements,excluding interference samples,changing clustering level,controlling related variables and considering self-selection bias,where the value transformation hypothesis is verified.Dimensions of green transformation have different inhibitory effects on stock price crash risk,where strategy concept,technological innovation and pollution treatment are more conducive to reducing stock price crash risk.An examination of underlying mechanisms further shows that firm green transformation can be effective in reducing stock price crash risk by improving green performance,reducing information asymmetry and increasing investor confidence.Cross-sectional analyses show that this effect is more pronounced in the subsample with higher internal control quality,higher analyst attention,and more intense market competition.This study emphasizes the importance of firm environmental practice information to the stable development of the capital market and enriches the exploration of the economic consequences of firm green transformation.It also provides implications for the better promotion of green transformation.