Curbing corporate greenwashing with transparency: the governance role of open government data in China

Abstract

In the digital economy era, open government data (OGD) has become an important institutional arrangement for improving environmental governance and promoting sustainable corporate development. By increasing the transparency and accessibility of public information, OGD may reduce information asymmetry and strengthen external supervision over corporate environmental practices. However, whether and how OGD curbs corporate ESG greenwashing (GW) behavior remains insufficiently explored. This study investigates the impact of OGD on firm GW behavior using Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2022. Employing a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model based on China’s OGD policy implementation, we find that OGD significantly reduces corporate GW behavior. The inhibitory effect is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, firms with weaker internal governance, firms in non-heavily polluting industries, firms operating in highly competitive markets, firms located in areas with poor air quality, and firms facing stronger social media pressure. Mechanism analyses further reveal that OGD curbs GW by improving corporate information transparency and enhancing firms’ sustained green innovation capability. In addition, OGD reduces GW by strengthening the government’s green monitoring ability and increasing public environmental awareness. This study contributes to the literature by linking OGD with corporate ESG governance and extending research on the environmental consequences of digital government transformation. The findings also provide important policy implications for governments seeking to promote corporate sustainability and curb greenwashing through data openness and digital governance reforms.