IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v51y2023ics154461232200616x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

More sustainable, more productive: Evidence from ESG ratings and total factor productivity among listed Chinese firms

Author

Listed:
  • Deng, Xiang
  • Li, Weihao
  • Ren, Xiaohang

Abstract

Scholars have long argued about whether improvements in environment, society, and governance (ESG) performance benefit a firm itself. To address this debate from a general perspective, we present empirical evidence on the positive correlation between a firm's ESG rating and its total factor productivity (TFP). We also explore three possible mechanisms that work within the relationship between ESG rating and TFP, in which each pillar (E, S, and G) of the ESG rating has its own function in influencing a mediator variable that eventually affects TFP. Our findings are of referential value for both policymakers and investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Deng, Xiang & Li, Weihao & Ren, Xiaohang, 2023. "More sustainable, more productive: Evidence from ESG ratings and total factor productivity among listed Chinese firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s154461232200616x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2022.103439
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S154461232200616X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2022.103439?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruna, Maria Giuseppina & Loprevite, Salvatore & Raucci, Domenico & Ricca, Bruno & Rupo, Daniela, 2022. "Investigating the marginal impact of ESG results on corporate financial performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    2. Won-Moo Hur & Hanna Kim & Jeong Woo, 2014. "How CSR Leads to Corporate Brand Equity: Mediating Mechanisms of Corporate Brand Credibility and Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 75-86, November.
    3. Wang, Xiong & Li, Jingyao & Ren, Xiaohang, 2022. "Asymmetric causality of economic policy uncertainty and oil volatility index on time-varying nexus of the clean energy, carbon and green bond," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Paolo Capelli & Federica Ielasi & Angeloantonio Russo, 2021. "Forecasting volatility by integrating financial risk with environmental, social, and governance risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1483-1495, September.
    5. Hao, Jing & He, Feng, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    6. Ren, Xiaohang & liu, Ziqing & Jin, Chenglu & Lin, Ruya, 2023. "Oil price uncertainty and enterprise total factor productivity: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 201-218.
    7. Capelle-Blancard, Gunther & Crifo, Patricia & Diaye, Marc-Arthur & Oueghlissi, Rim & Scholtens, Bert, 2019. "Sovereign bond yield spreads and sustainability: An empirical analysis of OECD countries," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 156-169.
    8. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "Does Confucianism Reduce Minority Shareholder Expropriation? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 661-716, December.
    9. Apergis, Nicholas & Poufinas, Thomas & Antonopoulos, Alexandros, 2022. "ESG scores and cost of debt," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Muhammad Atif & Searat Ali, 2021. "Environmental, social and governance disclosure and default risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3937-3959, December.
    11. Jun Xie & Wataru Nozawa & Michiyuki Yagi & Hidemichi Fujii & Shunsuke Managi, 2019. "Do environmental, social, and governance activities improve corporate financial performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 286-300, February.
    12. María Mar Miralles‐Quirós & José Luis Miralles‐Quirós & Jesús Redondo‐Hernández, 2019. "The impact of environmental, social, and governance performance on stock prices: Evidence from the banking industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1446-1456, November.
    13. Rim El Khoury & Nohade Nasrallah & Khaled Hussainey, 2022. "Exploring the performance of responsible companies in G20 during the COVID-19 outbreak," Post-Print hal-03761427, HAL.
    14. Shakil, Mohammad Hassan, 2021. "Environmental, social and governance performance and financial risk: Moderating role of ESG controversies and board gender diversity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Giovanni Catello Landi & Francesca Iandolo & Antonio Renzi & Andrea Rey, 2022. "Embedding sustainability in risk management: The impact of environmental, social, and governance ratings on corporate financial risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 1096-1107, July.
    16. Yinfeng Liang & Chenyan Cai & Yangchen Huang, 2022. "The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Productivity: Firm-Level Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(12), pages 3589-3607, September.
    17. Broadstock, David C. & Chan, Kalok & Cheng, Louis T.W. & Wang, Xiaowei, 2021. "The role of ESG performance during times of financial crisis: Evidence from COVID-19 in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    18. Florian Berg & Julian F Kölbel & Roberto Rigobon, 2022. "Aggregate Confusion: The Divergence of ESG Ratings [Corporate social responsibility and firm risk: theory and empirical evidence]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1315-1344.
    19. Ng, Anthony C. & Rezaee, Zabihollah, 2015. "Business sustainability performance and cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 128-149.
    20. He, Feng & Du, Hanyu & Yu, Bo, 2022. "Corporate ESG performance and manager misconduct: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    21. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    22. Li, Hao & Zhang, Xuan & Zhao, Yang, 2022. "ESG and Firm's Default Risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    23. He, Feng & Qin, Shuqi & Liu, Yuanyuan & Wu, Ji (George), 2022. "CSR and idiosyncratic risk: Evidence from ESG information disclosure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    24. Eliwa, Yasser & Aboud, Ahmed & Saleh, Ahmed, 2021. "ESG practices and the cost of debt: Evidence from EU countries," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    25. Ren, Xiaohang & Zhang, Xiao & Yan, Cheng & Gozgor, Giray, 2022. "Climate policy uncertainty and firm-level total factor productivity: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    26. Stewart R. Miller & Lorraine Eden & Dan Li, 2020. "CSR Reputation and Firm Performance: A Dynamic Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 619-636, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wan, Guochao & Zhang, Weike & Li, Chao, 2024. "How does low-carbon city pilot policy catalyze companies toward ESG practices? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1593-1607.
    2. Di Song & Canyu Xu & Zewei Fu & Chao Yang, 2023. "How Does a Regulatory Minority Shareholder Influence the ESG Performance? A Quasi-Natural Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Wu, Hao & Song, Yunling, 2024. "Does performance of carbon neutrality affect firm value?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Zhang, Jitao & Yang, Yongliang, 2023. "Can environmental disclosure improve price efficiency? The perspective of price delay," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Zhang, Dongyang, 2023. "Does green finance really inhibit extreme hypocritical ESG risk? A greenwashing perspective exploration," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    6. Jung, Hail & Lee, Junyoup & Song, Chang-Keun, 2023. "Carbon productivity and volatility," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    7. Zhou, Hailing & Liu, Ji, 2023. "Digitalization of the economy and resource efficiency for meeting the ESG goals," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    8. Wang, Zhen & Tang, Pei, 2024. "Substantive digital innovation or symbolic digital innovation: Which type of digital innovation is more conducive to corporate ESG performance?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 1212-1228.
    9. Zhang, Ruifeng & Zhao, Lishuang & Song, Shuhong, 2024. "Does capital input contribute to green total-factor capital efficiency?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    10. Shan Wu & Ying Li, 2023. "A Study on the Impact of Digital Transformation on Corporate ESG Performance: The Mediating Role of Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Coluccia, Benedetta & Barbieri, Roberta & Palmi, Pamela & Natale, Francesco, 2024. "Public ownership and ESG policies: implications for firm productivity in local transportation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Da Gao & Xiaotian Zhou & Jing Wan, 2024. "Unlocking sustainability potential: The impact of green finance reform on corporate ESG performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4211-4226, September.
    13. Ren, Xiangru & Ren, Yuning, 2024. "Public environmental concern and corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    14. Liu, Xiangqiang & Deng, Liyun & Dong, Xiaohong & Li, Qinyang, 2024. "Dual environmental regulations and corporate environmental violations," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    15. David Buckle, 2023. "The futility of measuring relative performance of ESG portfolios if ESG investing improves the market performance," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(7), pages 601-607, December.
    16. Opazo-Basáez, Marco & Monroy-Osorio, Juan Carlos & Marić, Josip, 2024. "Evaluating the effect of green technological innovations on organizational and environmental performance: A treble innovation approach," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    17. Yadu Zhang & Yiteng Zhang & Zuoren Sun, 2023. "The Impact of Carbon Emission Trading Policy on Enterprise ESG Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, May.
    18. Zhang, Chunqiang & Hao, Dayu & Gao, Lu & Xia, Fan & Zhang, Linlang, 2024. "Do ESG ratings improve capital market trading activities?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 195-210.
    19. Liu, Changyu & Gong, Wanrong & Dong, Guanglong & Ji, Qiang, 2024. "Regulation of environmental, social and governance disclosure greenwashing behaviors considering the risk preference of enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    20. Jiajia Liu & Zhenzhen Ge & Yahan Wang, 2024. "Role of environmental, social, and governance rating data in predicting financial risk and risk management," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 260-273, January.
    21. Juan Tan & Jinyu Wei, 2024. "Configurational Analysis of ESG Performance, Innovation Intensity, and Financial Leverage: a Study on Total Factor Productivity in Chinese Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Firms," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 13803-13827, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Dongyang, 2023. "Does green finance really inhibit extreme hypocritical ESG risk? A greenwashing perspective exploration," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Yu, Haixu & Liang, Chuanyu & Liu, Zhaohua & Wang, He, 2023. "News-based ESG sentiment and stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Wang, Zhen & Chu, Erming & Hao, Yukai, 2024. "Towards sustainable development: How does ESG performance promotes corporate green transformation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Xue, Qinyuan & Jin, Yifei & Zhang, Cheng, 2024. "ESG rating results and corporate total factor productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    5. Qian, Kun & Shi, Bingjie & Song, Yunling & Wu, Hao, 2023. "ESG performance and loan contracting in an emerging market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Helena Redondo & Elisa Aracil, 2024. "Climate‐related credit risk: Rethinking the credit risk framework," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(S1), pages 21-33, March.
    7. Zongrun Wang & Lili Yang & Xiaohang Ren & Duong Phuong Thao Pham, 2023. "Facilitate or Inhibit: Corporate Environmental Performance and Financing Costs," Evaluation Review, , vol. 47(4), pages 727-759, August.
    8. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Zhao, Yang, 2023. "Digital finance and corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Luo, Chunhua & Wei, Dianlong & He, Feng, 2023. "Corporate ESG performance and trade credit financing – Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 337-351.
    10. Ioannis Passas & Konstantina Ragazou & Eleni Zafeiriou & Alexandros Garefalakis & Constantin Zopounidis, 2022. "ESG Controversies: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis for the Sociopolitical Determinants in EU Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, October.
    11. Kelvin Lee Yong Ming & Yamunah Vaicondam & Amira Mas Ayu Amir Mustafa & Siti Nurul Munawwarah Roslan & Shen Yi & Komal Chopra & Pooja Khanna, 2024. "ESG Integration and Financial Performance: Evidence from Malaysia’s Leading Companies," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(5), pages 487-494, September.
    12. Veltri, Stefania & Bruni, Maria Elena & Iazzolino, Gianpaolo & Morea, Donato & Baldissarro, Giovanni, 2023. "Do ESG factors improve utilities corporate efficiency and reduce the risk perceived by credit lending institutions? An empirical analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Li, WeiWei & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Huang, Chia-Hsing, 2024. "ESG and debt structure: Is the nature of this relationship nonlinear?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Syed Hassan Jamil & Majid Jamal Khan, 2024. "Do corporate environmental protection efforts reduce firm‐level operating risk? Evidence from a developing country," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4480-4492, July.
    15. Alves, Carlos Francisco & Meneses, Lilian Lima, 2024. "ESG scores and debt costs: Exploring indebtedness, agency costs, and financial system impact," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    16. Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2023. "How does natural resource abundance affect green total factor productivity in the era of green finance? Global evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    17. Andrieș, Alin Marius & Sprincean, Nicu, 2023. "ESG performance and banks’ funding costs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Dingzu Zhang & Luqi Liu, 2022. "Does ESG Performance Enhance Financial Flexibility? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.
    19. Chunhua Lu & Hong Li, 2023. "Have China’s Regional Carbon Emissions Trading Schemes Promoted Industrial Resource Allocation Efficiency? The Evidence from Heavily Polluted Industries at the Provincial Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, February.
    20. Jorge Antunes & Peter Wanke & Thiago Fonseca & Yong Tan, 2023. "Do ESG Risk Scores Influence Financial Distress? Evidence from a Dynamic NDEA Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-32, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s154461232200616x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.