Environmental Information Disclosure Quality, Governance Structure Characteristics, and the Input–Output Efficiency of Green Innovation: A Hierarchical Linear Model Investigation of Chinese Listed Firms

This study examines how the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure, jointly with governance structure characteristics, shapes the input–output efficiency of green innovation in Chinese A-share listed firms, and whether industry- and region-level conditions moderate that relationship. Drawing on a panel of 2847 firms spanning 2014–2024, we construct a multidimensional disclosure quality index through content analysis across completeness, verifiability, quantification depth, and forward-looking commitment, and measure green innovation efficiency through a super-efficiency slacks-based DEA model accommodating undesirable outputs. A three-level hierarchical linear model partitions variance across firm, industry, and provincial layers and permits the disclosure–efficiency slope to vary with industry regulation intensity and provincial marketization. The results indicate that higher disclosure quality is associated with greater green innovation efficiency, a link we attribute to financing-constraint relief, reputational accumulation, and intensified external monitoring, offered as interpretive channels rather than as separately tested mediators. Board independence, environmentally experienced executives, and institutional shareholding amplify the conversion, while ownership concentration dampens it. Cross-level evidence shows that industry regulation intensity and regional marketization further steepen the firm-level slope. Findings remain stable across alternative measurement, restricted sampling, propensity score matching, and instrumental variable identification. The analysis offers a multilevel reframing of disclosure–innovation research and informs the design of mandatory disclosure rules, governance reform, and green finance infrastructure in transitioning economies.