How the financial-industrial integration affects the “greenwashing” of heterogeneous property rights enterprises

Curbing corporate “greenwashing” is an essential part of promoting sustainable development. In recent years, the financial-industrial integration has increasingly become an important component of corporate strategic planning. Based on summarizing the motivations of “greenwashing” in state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises, this study systematically examines the differential impact mechanisms and effects of financial-industrial integration on greenwashing behaviors between these two types of enterprises. This paper is based on 12,532 observations of A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2022 and uses a two-way fixed effects model for empirical testing. The research findings are as follows: First, the financial-industrial integration can effectively suppress 'greenwashing' behavior in non-state-owned enterprises. Compared with non-state-owned enterprises that have not integrated industry and finance, those that have integrated see a 0.1571 reduction in greenwashing levels; however, the financial-industrial integration promotes greenwashing in state-owned enterprises. Compared with state-owned enterprises that have not integrated, those that have integrated see a 0.1476 increase in greenwashing levels. Second, mechanism tests indicate that the financial-industrial integration alleviates the financing motives for “greenwashing” of non-state-owned enterprises through credit synergy effects, thereby suppressing their “greenwashing” behavior; the credit synergy effect of the financial-industrial integration does not affect the political motives for “greenwashing” of state-owned enterprises, but on this basis, it expands the opportunities for “greenwashing” of state-owned enterprises through regulatory inertia effects, thereby promoting their “greenwashing”. Third, for state-owned enterprises, female directors and executives, as well as chairmen and independent directors with environmental protection backgrounds, can make up for the regulatory gap caused by the financial-industrial integration, and suppress the promoting effect of the financial-industrial integration on the “greenwashing” of state-owned enterprises; for non-state-owned enterprises, the development of financial technology can enhance the inhibitory effect of the financial-industrial integration on the “greenwashing”. This study provides theoretical basis and policy implications for differentiated governance of corporate “greenwashing” behaviors.