Does the “Greenwashing” and “Brownwashing” of Corporate Environmental Information Affect the Analyst Forecast Accuracy?

Abstract

Taking the listed firms of heavy pollution industries in China for 2010–2021 as a sample, this study explored the impact and heterogeneity of corporate environmental disclosure behavior on analyst forecasts’ accuracy. We discovered that corporates measure or disclose environmental information and, the more environmental information is measured or disclosed, the more accurate analysts’ forecasts are; moreover, there is a strong and significant correlation between the environmental information given in the special reports and analysts’ forecast accuracy. This positive correlation is even more significant in cases of “matching words to deeds” and “brownwashing” by corporates. A mechanism analysis revealed that the analysts’ coverage and site visits both have a full or partial mediating effect. Specifically, analysts’ coverage is more likely to be elicited when corporates measure or disclose environmental information; the higher the degree of measurement or disclosure, disclose in the special reports, “matching words to deeds” and “brownwashing”. Analysts conducted site visits when corporates measured or disclosed environmental information, the higher the degree of measurement or disclosure, disclose in the special reports and “brownwashing”. The information above demonstrates that, on the one hand, specialized reports are published to supplement financial disclosures and, on the other hand, that analysts place importance on corporates’ incremental and explicit environmental information; however, “information screening” is insufficient and some “information mining” was carried out when corporate environmental information disclosure was insufficient. This study shed light on analysts’ roles in the improvement of the information environment of China’s capital market as well as the objective appraisal of the impact of corporate environmental information disclosure.