IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v73y2025ics1544612324016477.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ESG complementarity in emerging market: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Byun, Seong K.
  • Han, Sulei
  • Oh, Jong-Min
  • Xu, Jing

Abstract

This paper examines how firms in China approach environmental, social, governance (ESG) investments, with a particular focus on whether ESG components are viewed as complementary or substitutive. We find that the environmental component acts as a substitute for governance, suggesting a competition for resources. Conversely, the social component complements both environmental and governance initiatives, indicating synergies. These findings reveal that firms in emerging markets strategically optimize ESG investments, balancing limited resources within unique institutional frameworks. Our results highlight the complex interplay between ESG components in emerging markets and provide insights into how firms prioritize and integrate various aspects of ESG.

Suggested Citation

  • Byun, Seong K. & Han, Sulei & Oh, Jong-Min & Xu, Jing, 2025. "ESG complementarity in emerging market: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s1544612324016477
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612324016477
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106618?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. Hao Liang & Luc Renneboog, 2017. "On the Foundations of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(2), pages 853-910, April.
    2. Fatemi, Ali & Fooladi, Iraj & Tehranian, Hassan, 2015. "Valuation effects of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 182-192.
    3. Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2010. "Individual and Corporate Social Responsibility," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(305), pages 1-19, January.
    4. David P. Baron, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 683-717, September.
    5. Arora, Ashish, 1996. "Testing for complementarities in reduced-form regressions: A note," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 51-55, January.
    6. Wang, Juxian & Ma, Mengdi & Dong, Tianyi & Zhang, Zheyuan, 2023. "Do ESG ratings promote corporate green innovation? A quasi-natural experiment based on SynTao Green Finance's ESG ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. He, Feng & Guo, Xinyao & Yue, Pengpeng, 2024. "Media coverage and corporate ESG performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Baranchuk, Nina & Kieschnick, Robert & Moussawi, Rabih, 2014. "Motivating innovation in newly public firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 578-588.
    9. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjö Koskinen & Chendi Zhang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4451-4469, October.
    10. Matthew Gentzkow, 2007. "Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarity: Online Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 713-744, June.
    11. Lian, Yonghui & Ye, Tao & Zhang, Yiyang & Zhang, Lin, 2023. "How does corporate ESG performance affect bond credit spreads: Empirical evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 352-371.
    12. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Mishra, Dev R., 2011. "Does corporate social responsibility affect the cost of capital?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2388-2406, September.
    13. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2013. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(5), pages 1045-1061, May.
    14. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    15. Baron, David P., 2008. "Managerial contracting and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-2), pages 268-288, February.
    16. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Boubakri, Narjess & El Ghoul, Sadok & Wang, He & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y., 2016. "Cross-listing and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 123-138.
    18. Ronald W. Masulis & Syed Walid Reza, 2015. "Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 592-636.
    19. Krishna Udayasankar, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 167-175, December.
    20. Shu, Hao & Tan, Weiqiang, 2023. "Does carbon control policy risk affect corporate ESG performance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    21. Andrew Ainslie & Peter E. Rossi, 1998. "Similarities in Choice Behavior Across Product Categories," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 91-106.
    22. Xu, Dandan & Guo, Dongli & Yue, Pengpeng & Li, Mengshi, 2024. "Household green consumption: Does digital inclusion matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    23. Zeng, Yongliang & Zhao, Xiangfang & Zhu, Yiwen, 2023. "Equity incentives and ESG performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    24. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376.
    25. Sandra Cavaco & Patricia Crifo, 2014. "CSR and financial performance: complementarity between environmental, social and business behaviours," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(27), pages 3323-3338, September.
    26. Wan, Jieru & Yin, Libo & Wu, You, 2024. "Return and volatility connectedness across global ESG stock indexes: Evidence from the time-frequency domain analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PB), pages 397-428.
    27. Stephen J. Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Reputation and Social Performance: The Importance of Fit," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 435-455, May.
    28. Meryem Duygun & Stephen Hall & Aliya Kenjegalieva & Amangeldi Kenjegaliev, 2024. "ESG complementarities in the US economy," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 753-771, May.
    29. Cai, Ye & Pan, Carrie H. & Statman, Meir, 2016. "Why do countries matter so much in corporate social performance?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 591-609.
    30. Zhi Tang & Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg, 2012. "How Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Strategy Moderates the CSR–Financial Performance Relationship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7), pages 1274-1303, November.
    31. Fuxiu Jiang & Kenneth A Kim, 2020. "Corporate Governance in China: A Survey [The role of boards of directors in corporate governance: a conceptual framework and survey]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 24(4), pages 733-772.
    32. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2006. "In Search of Complementarity in Innovation Strategy: Internal R& D and External Knowledge Acquisition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 68-82, January.
    33. Arora, Ashish & Gambardella, Alfonso, 1990. "Complementarity and External Linkages: The Strategies of the Large Firms in Biotechnology," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 361-379, June.
    34. Mike Adams & Philip Hardwick, 1998. "An Analysis of Corporate Donations: United Kingdom Evidence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 641-654, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Chen, Che & Chen, Song & Wu, Dingwen, 2025. "The impact of ESG performance on R&D investment stability: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Goretti Cabaleiro-Cerviño & Pedro Mendi, 2024. "ESG-driven innovation strategy and firm performance," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 14(1), pages 137-185, March.
    4. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    5. Liu, Xianda & Hou, Wenxuan & Main, Brian G.M., 2022. "Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Qian, Binsheng & Poshakwale, Sunil & Tan, Yusen, 2024. "‘E’ of ESG and firm performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    7. Xin, Zhuoyao & Zhang, Zongyi & Xiang, Cheng, 2024. "Do suppliers value clients’ ESG profiles? Evidence from Chinese firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 241-258.
    8. Malik, Ihtisham A. & Chowdhury, Hasibul & Alam, Md Samsul, 2023. "Equity market response to natural disasters: Does firm's corporate social responsibility make difference?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    9. Tamas Barko & Martijn Cremers & Luc Renneboog, 2022. "Shareholder Engagement on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 777-812, October.
    10. Iskenderoglu, Cansu, 2025. "The value of diversification: ESG and investment in controversial industries," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Yi, Yuyang & Zhang, Zongyi & Xiang, Cheng, 2022. "The value of CSR during the COVID-19 crisis: Evidence from Chinese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    12. Chai, Hongrui & Cheng, Zhenhao & Wu, Weixing, 2025. "Is ESG performance a protective umbrella for ESG violations?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Liu, Xianda & An, Jiafu & Duan, Tinghua & Hou, Wenxuan & Zhao, Ruoran, 2023. "Lawyers in the boardroom and firms’ environmental performance," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Li, Chengcheng & Wang, Xiaoqiong, 2022. "Local peer effects of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    15. Lian, Yonghui & Yang, Zixin & Cao, Hong, 2025. "Does ESG performance affect trade credit financing? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Kais Bouslah & Abdelmajid Hmaittane & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Bouchra M’Zali, 2023. "CSR Structures: Evidence, Drivers, and Firm Value Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(1), pages 115-145, June.
    17. Nils Engelhardt & Jens Ekkenga & Peter Posch, 2021. "ESG Ratings and Stock Performance during the COVID-19 Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    18. Kara, Alper & Ongena, Steven & Yildiz, Yilmaz, 2024. "Does being a responsible bank pay off? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Du, Qunyang & Sun, Zhennan & Goodell, John W. & Du, Anna Min & Yang, Tianle, 2024. "Ecological risk and corporate sustainability: Examining ESG performance, risk management, and productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    20. Bai, Caiquan & Wang, Huimin & Xue, Qihang & Zhao, Yaping, 2025. "Financial crime and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).

    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:73:y:2025:i:c:s1544612324016477. 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.