Empirical Study on ESG Information Disclosure Quality, Professional Institution Attention, and Corporate Performance

Ting Sun; Qingyun Pu

doi:10.6981/FEM.202505_6(5).0015

Authors

Ting Sun
Qingyun Pu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6981/FEM.202505_6(5).0015

Keywords:

ESG Information Disclosure Quality; Attention from Professional Institutions; Corporate Performance; Mediation Effect.

Abstract

As global environmental issues continue to deepen, people are paying more attention to sustainable development, and as a result, ESG concepts are becoming increasingly popular. In terms of enterprises, stakeholders not only focus on financial indicators, but also pay attention to the effectiveness of ESG in enterprises. It can be seen that the quality of ESG information disclosure of enterprises cannot be underestimated in terms of their performance. This paper mainly takes A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022 as the research object, removes outliers, and finally obtains 32531 sample data. The main focus is on whether the quality of ESG information disclosure has an impact on corporate performance, and empirical research is conducted using professional institution attention as a mediating variable between the two. Research has found that the quality of ESG information disclosure is negatively correlated with corporate performance to a certain extent, and shows a positive correlation after exceeding the threshold. By analyzing the attention of professional institutions into two dimensions: analyst attention and research attention, the study found that professional institution attention plays a mediating role, and companies in the growth stage receive higher attention from professional institutions. In order to ensure the robustness of the conclusion, this article regresses the variable ESG lagged by one period and uses the price to book ratio PB as a substitute for the TobinQ of corporate performance, and concludes that the conclusion is still robust. Based on heterogeneity, the impact between the two is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Xu Xuegao, Wang Zhibin The main practices and inspirations of ESG information disclosure by overseas enterprises [J]. Macroeconomic Management, 2022 (2): 83-90.

[2] Velte P .Does ESG performance have an impact on financial performance? Evidence from Germany[J].Journal of Global Responsibility,2017,8(2):169-178.

[3] Patel Pankaj C. and Pearce John A. and Oghazi Pejvak. Not so myopic: Investors lowering short-term growth expectations under high industry ESG-sales-related dynamism and predictability[J]. Journal of Business Research, 128(2021):551-563.

[4] Qiu Muyuan, Yin Hong ESG performance and financing costs of enterprises under the background of ecological civilization construction [J]. Quantitative Economics and Technical Economics Research, 2019, 36 (03): 108-123.

[5] Xu Wenjing, Cheng Wenyu, Du Mucong Research on the Relationship between Carbon Information Disclosure, Financing Costs, and Corporate Financial Performance [J]. Price Theory and Practice, 2022, (06):156-160.

[6] Garcia S A ,Mendes-Da-Silva W ,Orsato J R .Sensitive industries produce better ESG performance: Evidence from emerging markets[J].Journal of Cleaner Production,2017,150135-147.

[7] Wang Rong Research on the Relationship between ESG Information Disclosure and Corporate Value from a Cost Benefit Perspective [J]. Journal of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, 2022, 29 (4): 74-86.

[8] Crifo P ,Forget D V ,Teyssier S .The price of environmental, social and governance practice disclosure: An experiment with professional private equity investors[J].Journal of Corporate Finance,2015,30168-194.

[9] Aupperle K E , Carroll A B , Hatfield J D .An Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Profitability[J]. 1985.

[10] Richardson A J , Welker M , Hutchinson I R .Managing Capital Market Reactions to Corporate Social Resposibility[J].International Journal of Management Reviews, 2010, 1(1):17-43.

[11] Rathner S .The Influence of Primary Study Characteristics on the Performance Differential Between Socially Responsible and Conventional Investment Funds: A Meta-Analysis[J].Journal of Business Ethics,2013,118(2):349-363.

[12] Chen Yuqing, Ma Lili Empirical analysis of market response to social responsibility accounting information of listed companies in China [J]. Accounting Research, 2005, (11):76-81.

[13] Wang Susheng, Lan Zhaohua, Yu Zhen, etc Research on the External Supervision Effect of Analysts' Attention [J]. Journal of Dalian University of Technology (Social Sciences Edition), 2014, 35 (03): 33-38.

[14] Xie Zhen, Ai Chunrong Analyst Focus and Company R&D Investment: Analysis Based on Chinese ChiNext Companies [J]. Financial Research, 2014, 40 (02): 108-119.

[15] Ying Qianwei, Gao Haojing, Deng Kebin The market pressure effect and its transmission mechanism of media attention [J]. Journal of Management Science, 2017, 20 (04): 32-49.

[16] Yang Dan, Xia Xiaolan Does media coverage promote corporate innovation? "Economist, 2015, (10):68-77.

[17] Tan Yuanyuan Online media attention, environmental tax collection, and green technology innovation in manufacturing enterprises [J]. Finance and Accounting Communication, 2021, (05):80-83+88.

[18] Wang Yanyan, Yu Lisheng, Anran Can non-financial information disclosure improve the information environment of the capital market-- Research on Disclosure of Social Responsibility Reports [J]. Financial Research, 2014, (08):178-191.

[19] Chen M ,Yang D ,Zhang W , et al.How does ESG disclosure improve stock liquidity for enterprises - Empirical evidence from China[J].Environmental Impact Assessment Review,2023,98.

[20] Zhang Chun, Lv Wei Information Disclosure, Information Intermediary, and Overinvestment of Enterprises [J]. Accounting Research, 2009 (1): 60-65.

[21] Chen Xichan Corporate Social Responsibility Information Disclosure, Media Attention, and Corporate Performance [J]. Financial and Accounting Newsletter: Part 2, 2018 (1): 31-34.

[22] Guan Shengdong Research on the Relationship between ESG Performance and Stock Liquidity of A-share Listed Companies in China [D]. Southwest University of Finance and Economics, 2024.

[23] Haans J F R ,Pieters C ,He Z .Thinking about U : Theorizing and testing U ‐ and inverted U ‐shaped relationships in strategy research[J].Strategic Management Journal,2016,37(7):1177-1195.

[24] Wen Zhonglin, Zhang Lei, Hou Jietai, etc Mediation effect testing procedure and its application [J]. Chinese Journal of Psychology, 2004, 36 (5): 614-620.