Strategic Differences and Corporate Environmental Disclosure Quality: Empirical Evidence from Heavily Polluting Industries in China

Strategic Differences and Corporate Environmental Disclosure Quality: Empirical Evidence from Heavily Polluting Industries in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Strategic Differences and Corporate Environmental Disclosure Quality: Empirical Evidence from Heavily Polluting Industries in China Qi'an Zhong This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6754902/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In this study, we empirically examine the relationship between strategic differences and the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure (QEID) using a sample of heavily polluting enterprises listed on China's A-share market from 2013 to 2020. The empirical findings reveal that the relationship between strategic differences and the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure is "inverted U-shaped," meaning that moderate strategic differences can enhance the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure but excessive strategic differences may reduce it. The heterogeneity test indicates that this relationship is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises with lower internal control capabilities. Furthermore, we find that environmental regulations and managerial ability amplify the "inverted U-shaped" relationship between strategic differences and the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure. These findings provide valuable insights for firms to formulate strategic decisions and improve their environmental disclosure systems. Business and commerce/Business and management Business and commerce/Economics strategic differences environmental information disclosure environmental regulation managerial ability Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 29 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 25 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 20 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 14 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 14 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 26 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6754902","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":464330236,"identity":"e9fe5429-60bd-4118-aba1-e42fc36c6a3f","order_by":0,"name":"Qi'an Zhong","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACfmbG9h8SFRCOBFFaJNuZD0hYnCFFi8F5tgSJyjZStDAc5jEwuDmvTnbDAeaDt3kY7PII6mBs5jFInLntsPGGA2zJ1jwMycUEtTAz8xgcltx2IHHDAR4zaR6GA4kNhLSwMfMYNv+dUwfUwv+NOC08zGzJDJINzCBb2IjTIsHMfIxB4thh45mH2Ywt5xgkE9Zif/5gG4NETZ1s3/HmhzfeVNgR1gIDjA3MIMqAWPVgLSQoHgWjYBSMghEGALp/ONnqSK5NAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Suqian University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi'an","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhong","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-27 03:23:29","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6754902/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6754902/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06814-y","type":"published","date":"2026-03-02T15:59:08+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104251816,"identity":"166432f0-a3b0-43f3-92c4-c227f346d9f2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-09 16:15:33","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":357595,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6754902/v1_covered_90b1b36f-b5a2-4d92-9442-8388c6e0879c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Strategic Differences and Corporate Environmental Disclosure Quality: Empirical Evidence from Heavily Polluting Industries in China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"strategic differences, environmental information disclosure, environmental regulation, managerial ability","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6754902/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6754902/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn this study, we empirically examine the relationship between strategic differences and the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure (QEID) using a sample of heavily polluting enterprises listed on China's A-share market from 2013 to 2020. 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