Impact of environmental information disclosure on environmental regulation intensity: evidence from 113 cities in China

Presently, the driving factors for environmental regulatory intensity, especially environmental information disclosure, remain unclear. Exploring the causal relationship between the two has an important guiding value for governments to achieve sustainable development. This research empirically examines the impact of environmental information disclosure on environmental regulatory intensity, and the possible action mechanisms and boundary conditions based on panel data of 113 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020 using fixed-effects model, quantile regression model, moderating effect model, and spatial econometric models. The conclusions suggest that, first, a 1% increase in environmental information disclosure promotes a positive increase in environmental regulatory intensity of about 0.171%. Second, The regression coefficients of environmental information disclosure in the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th quartiles are 0.489, 0.401, 0.443, 0.365 and 0.281 respectively, showing a decreasing trend. Third, transportation infrastructure and the resident’s education level exhibit positive interactions, with interaction term regression coefficients of 0.006 and 0.070, respectively; foreign direct investment exhibits a negative interaction, with coefficient of -0.029. Fourth, both environmental regulation intensity and environmental information disclosure show positive spatial correlations, with a 1% increase in environmental regulation intensity and environmental information disclosure in neighboring cities causing an increase in environmental regulation intensity of about 0.734% and 0.026% in this city. This research demonstrates the positive effects of adopting environmental information disclosure on the realization of sustainable development and provides empirical evidence for government policy formulation.