Associate Professor Kung-Cheng Ho, a researcher of the Base, has published a collaborative paper titled "Corporate sustainability policies and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from the quasi-natural experiment in China" in Energy Economics.

Energy Economics is a top professional journal in the field of energy economics and energy finance. Its themes include but are not limited to energy exploitation, conversion and use, energy commodities and derivatives market, regulation and taxation, forecasting, environment and climate, international trade, development and monetary policy.

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of green disclosure on firm investment efficiency, leveraging a policy experiment in China. Since 2012, the Chinese government has begun to implement the Ambient Air Quality Standards (AQS), which have strengthened the requirements for green disclosure throughout the country. We exploit the rollout of the AQS and find that tightening the green disclosure requirements significantly increases corporate investment efficiency. This increase is primarily driven by a reduction in underinvestment among non-state-owned firms and firms with low institutional ownership. Further analysis suggests that the alleviation of agency problems and the reduction of financial constraints are the two main mechanisms through which green disclosure influences firm investment efficiency. Our findings provide valuable policy implications, indicating that strengthening green disclosure standards can have a substantial positive impact on firm investment outcomes.

Keywords: Corporate sustainability policy, Green disclosure, Investment efficiency, Agency problems, Financial constraints

Link：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.107050

Teacher profile

Kung-Cheng Ho, Doctor of Taiwan Yuanzhi University, associate professor of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics. His research interest covers Corporate finance, credit risk management, corporate social responsibility, information asymmetry risk and cross-disciplinary research. His research interest is in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Emerging Markets Review, Energy Economics, International Review of Economics & Finance, International Review of Financial Analysis, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Forecasting, Pacific-Baisn Finance Journal, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting and other international SSCI journals published more than 40 articles, including 1 ABS 4-star journals, 12 three-star journals and 17 SSCI first-region journals. In addition, he has preached papers in dozens of important academic conferences at home and abroad. Including China Annual Finance Conference, China Annual Financial Engineering Conference, China Annual Management Conference, CICF, American Accounting Association, Asian Finance Association, European Finance Association, Europe Financial Management Association, Financial Management Association, Taiwan Management Institute, Western Economic Association International, etc. In addition, he has reviewed manuscripts for more than 20 journals at home and abroad, including Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Economic Modelling, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Financial Innovation, Investment Analysts Journal, International Journal of Emerging Markets, International Review of Economics and Finance,  Managerial and Decision Economics, etc.