%A HU Rong, LI Ying, WANG Zhifang
%T Fund Responsible Investment Commitment and Corporate ESG Greenwashing: "Suppressor" or "Catalyst"
%0 Journal Article
%D 2026
%J Journal of Guizhou University of Finance and Economics
%R 
%P 98-110
%V 43
%N 02
%U {https://gcxb.gufe.edu.cn/CN/abstract/article_9609.shtml}
%8 2026-03-25
%X Green finance is entrusted with the important function of serving the "dual carbon" goals and sustainable development. As its key vehicle, public funds in China that actively sign the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have their investment behaviors scrutinized. Whether these behaviors promote corporate sustainable development or exacerbate corporate opportunism still lacks empirical evidence from the Chinese capital market. Compared to existing research focusing on the investment behaviors of PRI signatory fund companies in developed markets, this paper, based on China's capital market, extends the research perspective to investee firms, examining the impact of PRI fund investment on corporate ESG greenwashing behavior. Using data from A-share listed companies from 2017 to 2022, the study finds: (1) PRI fund investment significantly deters corporate ESG greenwashing; (2) The deterrent effect is more pronounced when the commitment to responsible investment is more sustained, the proportion of active funds is higher, and when firms are in heavily polluting industries, face stronger information disclosure regulation, have higher levels of internationalization and reputation, or are located in regions with higher financial development; (3) PRI fund investment primarily deters corporate ESG greenwashing by strengthening ESG supervision rather than relying on the threat of exit; (4) A higher proportion of non-ESG funds and late signatories among the PRI funds weakens their deterrent effect on corporate ESG greenwashing and may even amplify it. The findings provide theoretical support for optimizing the allocation of green financial resources to serve the "dual carbon" goals.