关键词: 中央环保督察, 企业可持续发展, 行业竞争度, 企业融资约束, 多期倍分法

Abstract: Utilizing the attention-based view and treating the Central Environmental Protection Inspection (CEPI) initiated in early 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper examines the impact and underlying mechanisms of CEPI on corporate sustainable performance across a panel of 915 listed firms spanning the period between 2013 and 2019. Employing a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model, the findings reveal a significant improvement corporate sustainable performance of firms within heavy-polluting industries following the implementation of CEPI. Mediation analysis indicates that CEPI contributes to elevating corporate sustainable performance by increasing environmental awareness among both the public and top-level management. Further analysis reveals that industry competition mitigates the positive effects of CEPI corporate sustainable performance, whereas corporate financing constraints amplify it. This paper not only provides empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of the China’s environmental governance efforts in enhancing corporate sustainable performance, but also offers policy recommendations and managerial insights for improving the efficiency of environmental protection inspection mechanisms and facilitating the green, low-carbon transformation of enterprises.

Key words: central environmental protection inspection (CEPI), corporate sustainable performance, industry competition, corporate financing constraints, time-varying difference-in-differences (DID)