Can Green Mergers and Acquisitions Curb the Financialization of Heavily Polluting Enterprises? Evidence From China

Abstract

Realizing the harmonious coexistence of environmental and economic benefits is an inevitable requirement, and promoting the sustainable development of corporate environmental governance and physical enterprises “from virtual to real” is the essence. Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed heavily polluting enterprises from 2004 to 2020, the impact mechanism of green mergers and acquisitions (M&A) on corporate financialization is investigated through multiple regression analysis. The results show that green M&A can inhibit corporate financialization, with government environmental concerns playing a negative moderating role and corporate governance capabilities playing a positive moderating role. Further results on the transmission mechanism show that financing constraints mediate the relationship between green M&A and corporate financialization. The results of the study not only show that green M&A is a “sincere” behavior of enterprises to promote sustainable development, but also reveal the “dynamic” role of government environmental concerns and corporate governance capabilities. In addition, the “reservoir” effect of corporate financialization is also confirmed.