# Annual report text’s positive tone and corporate green innovation: Evidence from China

## TL;DR

This paper shows that a positive tone in corporate annual reports is linked to better green innovation and long-term company value.

## Contribution

The study reveals that positive annual report tone enhances green innovation through financing and attention mechanisms.

## Key findings

- Positive annual report tone significantly improves green innovation quantity and quality.
- Positive tone eases financing constraints and boosts external attention.
- Effect is stronger in high uncertainty and non-polluting industries.

## Abstract

From the perspective of annual report text information, we study the relationship between the annual report text’s positive tone and corporate green innovation. Taking listed companies from 2010 to 2022 as a sample, we found that the positive tone of the annual report text significantly improves the company’s green innovation while improving the quantity and quality of green innovation. The mechanism test shows that the main channels are easing corporate financing constraints and enhancing external attention. Regarding heterogeneity analysis, we found that the positive annual report text has a more significant effect on corporate green innovation in companies with high economic policy uncertainty and non-heavily polluting industries. Finally, we found that the positive tone of the annual report text can ultimately improve the company’s long-term value through green innovation. Our study has enriched the theoretical research on the annual report text tone and provided empirical evidence for promoting enterprise green innovation.