The Power of Cognition: Has Executive Environmental Cognition Promoted Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure?

ABSTRACT Most existing studies focus on government regulation when analysing corporate environmental information disclosure (EID), paying little attention to micro‐level drivers such as executive cognition. We use data from A‐share listed companies in China and apply a two‐way fixed effects model with an instrumental variable approach (2SLS) to test how executive environmental cognition (EEC) affects EID quality. We find that EEC improves disclosure quality, mainly because it encourages firms to engage in practical green innovation. However, when the public or the government shows strong environmental concern, the influence of EEC is weakened. The effect is also stronger in non‐state‐owned firms, companies whose leaders have no environmental background, and those in less polluting industries. Additionally, aligning EEC with corporate disclosure boosts firms' ESG performance. We contribute to the literature by highlighting the role of EEC as a supplement to formal regulation, showing how public and government attention can substitute for executive cognition, and explaining how such cognition can promote ESG performance through disclosure.