Can government environmental auditing and fiscal transparency promote the green development of heavy-polluting firms?

Corporate green development (GD) is critical for realizing China’s double carbon targets, and government environmental auditing is an essential path for supervising the GD behavior of enterprises. However, the effect of government environmental auditing on corporate GD has not been thoroughly investigated, particularly through the path of improving fiscal transparency. This study takes Chinese A-share listed companies in heavily polluting industries from 2011 to 2022 as the sample and uses statistical models to empirically test the effects. The results indicate that government environmental auditing can significantly facilitate corporate GD by improving fiscal transparency. Government auditing functions to checking and preventing environmental pollution issues can promote enterprises’ GD. The function of preventing pollution issues has the most substantial promotion effect. The analysis of regional heterogeneity indicates that government environmental auditing in the western region has the strongest effect. The conclusion of this study provides theoretical support and guidance for strengthening government environmental auditing, improving government fiscal transparency, and promoting the GD of enterprises.