Research On The Relationship Between Corporate Attention To Environmental Policy,Pressure From The Media,and Corporate Environmental Performance

Although heavily polluting enterprises have made great contribution to China’s economic growth,they have also caused a series of ecological environmental problems.Since the 18 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,China has made up its mind to protect and harness the eco-environment.The construction of ecological civilization has been included in the overall national development strategy layout.The state and government have made efforts in the formulation and implementation of environmental policies and the policy system for environment protection has been continuously improved.At the same time,as an important external monitoring force,the media forms the soft constraints on environmental behavior of heavily polluting enterprises.Against this background,it is urgent to explore whether the attention of enterprises to environmental policies and the pressure of media regulation provide motivation for corporate environmental performance improvement.To this end,this paper takes 149 A-share listed companies in heavily polluting industries from2009 to 2021 as research samples to explore the way in which corporate attention to environmental policy and media pressure affect corporate environmental performance.The main research process and contents are as follows: Firstly,the theoretical basis of research the relevant research literature are introduced and the hypotheses on the relationship between corporate attention to environmental policy,pressure from the media and corporate environmental performance are put forward.Secondly,Using machine learning methods to scientifically measure the core research variables:Relevant texts on corporate environmental behavior in corporate reports and government environmental work reports are collected and the text similarity algorithm based on Doc2 vec machine learning model is used to measure the attention of enterprises to environmental policy;News reports on corporate environmental behavior is collected from the news database and the machine learning model of SNOWNLP sentiment analysis is introduced to quantify the media pressure.Thirdly,the models are built to conduct empirical analysis and robustness tests.Finally,based on the results of the study,suggestions are put forward to promote the improvement of corporate environmental performance from the perspectives of enterprises,media,and the government.Through research and analysis,the following conclusions are drawn:(1)There is a significant correlation between corporate attention to environmental policy and corporate environmental performance.The more enterprises pay attention to environmental policy,the better corporate environmental performance is.(2)The pressure brought by media can significantly improve corporate environmental performance.(3)Media pressure can positively regulate the relationship between corporate attention to environmental policy and corporate environmental performance.Based on the above research results,this paper puts forward the following suggestions: Enterprises should have insight into environmental policies to understand policy intent,and adjust their own environmental behavior in accordance with the policies.The media should give wide coverage to corporate environmental behavior and guide regulatory agencies to perform their duties actively via public opinion.The government should publicize and interpret existing environmental policies,and increase enforcement of policy to ensure the effective implementation.Through the above conclusions and suggestions,this article provides valuable reference for strengthening environmental policy implementation,exerting the governance effectiveness of the media,and improving corporate environmental performance.