【报告主题】Do firms respond to calls for environmental improvements made by retail investor? Evidence from pollution appeals on investor platforms in China
【主讲嘉宾】黄德尊，南加州大学教授
【报告时间】2023年12月19日 14:00
【报告地点】会计学院108室
【内容提要】
Retail investors have become more vocal in pressuring firms to improve their environmental performance, yet little is known about whether and when firms respond to these pressures. We conduct a field experiment on investor online platforms where we inject investor pressure by posting requests for environmental improvement among firms found in violation of pollution standards in China. We find that retail investor pressure can reduce subsequent violations by 4.2%. Amplifying the publicity of the appeal through social media leads to greatest reduction in subsequent violations, while calling for more disclosure has no incremental effect on violation reduction. We find significant within-firm spillover effects to other establishments and to other pollutant sources. The finding suggests that retail investor pressure can lead to improvements by changing firms’ perception of investor’s demand for environmental performance.