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

Author

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. Lutfa Tilat Ferdous & Tarek Rana & Richard Yeboah, 2025. "Decoding the impact of firm‐level ESG performance on financial disclosure quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 162-186, January.
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    9. Si, Deng-Kui & Zhou, Fu-You & Li, Xiao-Lin & Kong, Dongmin, 2025. "The effect of financial marketization on the nexus between ESG rating uncertainty and corporate innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Ann Susan Thomas & Ambili Jayachandran & Ajithakumari Vijayappan Nair Biju, 2024. "Strategic mapping of the environmental social governance landscape in finance – A bibliometric exploration through concepts and themes," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4428-4453, September.
    12. 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.
    13. Zhongshuai Wang & Baocheng Bian & Jun Wang, 2025. "Influence of Green Credit Policy on Corporate Risk-Taking: The Mediating Effect of Debt Maturity Mismatch and the Moderating Effect of Executive Compensation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-30, March.
    14. 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).
    15. 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).
    16. Xie, Wenxin, 2024. "Information disclosure transparency and shareholder wealth: Based on textual analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. 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).
    18. 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).
    19. Zhao, Yuanshuang & Dong, Liang & Sun, Yuhang & Ma, Yunning & Zhang, Ning, 2024. "Is air pollution the original sin of firms? The impact of air pollution on firms' ESG scores," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    20. 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).
    21. Tu, Kaidi & Guo, Yuanyuan, 2024. "How higher education affects corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    22. Qingyu Hu & Qi Wang, 2025. "Does investor sentiment enhance the impact of ESG ratings on firms' financial performance? Evidence from China," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 39(1), pages 188-215, May.
    23. Wei Zhu & Wei‐jian Li & Lei Wang, 2024. "The impact of environmental, social, and governance ratings on corporate innovation: From the perspective of informal institutions," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(4), pages 2000-2022, June.
    24. Li, Wei-An & Du, Hanyu & He, Feng, 2025. "Mandatory corporate ESG disclosure and default risk – Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    25. Wu, Shilei & Zhou, Fu-You & Si, Deng-Kui & Hao, Jiawei, 2025. "Does ESG rating policy reduce corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

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