Environmental Crisis, Institutional Pressure, and Corporate Disclosure: A Case Study of Zijin Mining
Main Article Content
Keywords
environmental information disclosure, legitimacy theory, environmental crisis, brand image repair, Zijin Mining
Abstract
Against the backdrop of increasingly stringent environmental governance requirements, environmental information disclosure has become a critical tool for firms to respond to societal expectations and maintain legitimacy. Drawing on legitimacy theory, this study takes the “July 3” environmental pollution incident and the “September 21” explosion accident of Zijin Mining in 2010 as the research context. Using annual reports from 2008 to 2014 as the sample, this paper examines the evolution of corporate environmental information disclosure before and after environmental crises, and analyzes its mechanism in repairing corporate brand image. Furthermore, the analysis is extended by incorporating the perspective of changes in national regulatory frameworks. The findings indicate that under the impact of environmental crises, corporate environmental disclosure exhibits a staged evolution from symbolic disclosure to responsive disclosure, and ultimately to institutionalized disclosure. Following the crises, under regulatory and public opinion pressure, firms significantly increase disclosure content and strengthen responsiveness. As governance progresses, disclosure becomes more systematic and quantitative. Further analysis shows that institutionalized disclosure enhances information transparency, helps mitigate negative public opinion, and promotes the restoration of corporate legitimacy and brand image. Meanwhile, the strengthening of national environmental disclosure regulations plays a crucial role in driving this process.
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