Research on the Debt Financing Constraints of Steel Enterprises from the Perspective of Environmental Information Disclosure

Abstract

Based on the concept of sustainable development, China has formulated a “dual carbon” strategic plan. Steel enterprises are in urgent need of a green and low-carbon transition, requiring substantial funding for technological upgrades and transformation. The “Reform Plan for the Legal Disclosure System of Environmental Information” implemented in 2021 explicitly mandates that high-pollution industries such as steel and cement must disclose their environmental information. Green finance policies impose numerous restrictions on steel enterprises, making it imperative to address the issues of difficult and expensive financing. Against this backdrop, this paper uses listed companies in China’s steel industry from 2014 to 2023 as a sample to empirically examine the impact of environmental information disclosure on debt financing. The study finds that environmental information disclosure is negatively correlated with corporate debt financing costs and positively correlated with the scale and structure of debt financing. Neither enterprise size nor nature can reduce debt financing costs. The publication of a standalone environmental report can enhance the impact of environmental information disclosure on debt financing costs. Further research reveals that the impact of environmental information disclosure on debt financing exhibits a dual time-node effect, with the time nodes corresponding to the year of the promulgation of the Environmental Protection Law and the year of the release of the Reform Plan for the Legal Disclosure System of Environmental Information. Finally, conclusions and policy recommendations are proposed.