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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Corporate Environmental Information
Disclosure, Financing Constraints, and Green
Innovation: Evidence from Enterprises in the
Yangtze River Economic Belt Provinces
1
School of Business, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China
Submission date: 2024-09-12
Final revision date: 2025-01-15
Acceptance date: 2025-02-01
Online publication date: 2025-03-24
Publication date: 2026-04-21
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2026;35(2):2211-2232
KEYWORDS
Yangtze River Economic Beltcorporate environmental information disclosurefinancing constraintscorporate green innovation
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Supporting the Yangtze River Economic Belt's high-quality, environmentally friendly growth
reflects the new development concept. Green innovation drives green development, which is essential
for promoting high-quality enterprise growth. Environmental information disclosure serves as an
effective measure to achieve both ecological protection and socio-economic progress. This study
selects listed companies in the Yangtze River Economic Belt provinces from 2008 to 2022 as samples,
analyzing the impact of corporate environmental information disclosure on green innovation. First,
stakeholders’ expectations drive higher levels of environmental disclosure, promoting green innovation.
This conclusion remains robust after variable replacement, PSM, and IV tests. Moreover, it has stronger
effects in the mid and lower Yangtze regions. Second, financing constraints act as catalysts. Under
external pressure like high financing constraints, firms seek to acquire resources and tend to increase
disclosure to attract investors’ resource support, which can reduce costs and boost green innovation.
This is notably evident in resource-dependent and non-state-owned firms. Threshold tests confirm that,
as financing constraints exceed certain levels, the positive impact of disclosure on innovation intensifies.
Lastly, the study offers theoretical references and policy recommendations for green development in the
Yangtze River Economic Belt.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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