Research on the Impact of Excessive Environmental Information Disclosure by Enterprises on Stock Price Crash

This paper investigates the phenomenon of excessive environmental information disclosure by A-share listed companies in China. Using a sample of A-share listed companies that published corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports between 2015 and 2023, the study first applies the threshold effect and quantile regression models to identify embellishments in the environmental textual information disclosed by these firms. Subsequently, a panel fixed effects model is employed to examine the potential impact of excessive environmental information disclosure on stock price crashes. The results reveal that the environmental textual information disclosed by companies contains embellishments beyond substantive environmental content, indicating the presence of greenwashing. This behavior amplifies the risk of stock price crashes, with a more pronounced effect in the manufacturing sector. The underlying mechanism is that excessive textual information disclosure diminishes the quality and transparency of the disclosed information, thus fostering irrational investment behaviors among investors. Additionally, the study finds that effective environmental textual information disclosure can attenuate the likelihood of stock price crashes. Further analysis suggests that reducing ownership concentration, increasing managerial equity ownership, and enhancing the role of independent directors in corporate governance can significantly improve the quality of environmental information disclosure and curb excessive environmental information embellishment. This paper provides new insights into the analysis of environmental textual information disclosure and offers practical implications for guiding investors toward more rational investment decisions.