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Environmental, social and governance performance, corporate transparency, and credit rating: Some evidence from Chinese A-share listed companies

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Listed:
  • Li, Chao
  • Wu, Mian
  • Chen, Xi
  • Huang, Wenli

Abstract

The role of the companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance plays to corporate transparency is important, but few researches have been conducted so far. This study examines the impact of the transparency mechanism of Chinese A-share listed companies over the period 2009 to 2020. The results show that: first, listed companies with substantial ESG performance are more transparent than listed companies with low ESG performance. Moreover, the high shareholding of institutional investors and the high attention of analysts will weaken the positive impact of ESG’s performance on corporate disclosure transparency. Finally, transparency plays an intermediate role in the relationship between ESG performance and credit ratings of listed companies. The findings provide guidance for regulators to supervise ESG disclosure activities of listed companies and improve the information disclosure system.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Chao & Wu, Mian & Chen, Xi & Huang, Wenli, 2022. "Environmental, social and governance performance, corporate transparency, and credit rating: Some evidence from Chinese A-share listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:74:y:2022:i:c:s0927538x22001019
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2022.101806
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    2. Ji, Yucheng & Xu, Weijun & Zhao, Qi & Jia, Zecheng, 2023. "ESG disclosure and investor welfare under asymmetric information and imperfect competition," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Li, Jinning & Kong, Tao & Gu, Liangliang, 2024. "The impact of climate policy uncertainty on green innovation in Chinese agricultural enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    4. Erli Dan & Jianfei Shen & Yiwei Guo, 2023. "Corporate Sustainable Growth, Carbon Performance, and Voluntary Carbon Information Disclosure: New Panel Data Evidence for Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-27, March.
    5. Sultan Sikandar Mirza & Chengming Huang & Adnan Khan, 2024. "Managing CEO duality and economic uncertainty: strategies for aligning corporate sustainability and innovation in China’s energy market," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 12815-12841, May.
    6. Bai, Dongbei & Du, Lizhao & Xu, Yang & Abbas, Shujaat, 2023. "Climate policy uncertainty and corporate green innovation: Evidence from Chinese A-share listed industrial corporations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    7. Feng Niu & Liuzhen Zhang & Wunhong Su, 2023. "Association between state ownership participation and the performance of private firms: Evidence from China," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 979-1006, October.
    8. Manuel Carlos Nogueira & Mara Madaleno, 2022. "Are Sustainability Indices Infected by the Volatility of Stock Indices? Analysis before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-13, November.
    9. Lin, Ling & Jiang, Yong & Zhou, Zhongbao, 2024. "Asymmetric spillover and network connectedness of policy uncertainty, fossil fuel energy, and global ESG investment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 368(C).
    10. Hu, Xinwen & Hua, Renhai & Liu, Qingfu & Wang, Chuanjie, 2023. "The green fog: Environmental rating disagreement and corporate greenwashing," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Fang Yang & Xu Li, 2023. "Corporate Financialization, ESG Performance and Sustainability Development: Evidence from Chinese-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-28, February.

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