Climate-Related Disclosure and Corporate Green Investment: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms

This study examines the association between climate-related disclosure and corporate green investment using Chinese A-share listed firms during 2013–2023. The baseline sample comprises 20,446 firm-year observations, while supplementary analyses use samples determined by additional data and model requirements. Three dictionary-based disclosure indices are examined using fixed-effects regressions, Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation and clustered bootstrap tests of indirect associations. Climate-related disclosure is positively associated with identified environmental capital expenditure across the three dictionaries. A one-standard-deviation increase in the baseline CR96 index corresponds to a 0.0894-percentage-point difference in green investment relative to total assets, equivalent to approximately 54.5% of mean investment and 12.1% of its standard deviation. The mean-relative magnitude reflects the low average investment level in a sample where 81.27% of observations record zero identified expenditure. Evidence is more consistent for recording positive investment; the association with expenditure intensity conditional on positive investment is not robust across dictionaries. All multiple-testing-adjusted confidence intervals for indirect associations through government environmental attention, media attention and analyst coverage include zero. Exploratory external checks show limited correspondence with the composite city climate index and a specification-dependent association between physical-risk language and extreme rainfall. These findings link climate-related disclosure to recorded environmental investment without establishing a causal relationship or robust stakeholder-attention channels.