IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v104y2025ics1059056025007683.html

Does confucian culture restrain ESG decoupling? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Wan, Peng
  • Yang, Yu
  • Chen, Xiangyu

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the role of Confucian culture as an informal institution on firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) decoupling. Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2023, we find that Confucian culture significantly inhibits the phenomenon of ESG decoupling. Further analysis reveals that Confucian culture can mitigate ESG decoupling by restraining management overconfidence and promoting managerial integrity. Moderating effect analysis reveals that Confucian culture exerts a more pronounced inhibitory effect on ESG decoupling when companies face weaker external supervision. This study demonstrates that Confucian culture, as the most widely and profoundly influential traditional culture in Chinese society, is an important governing force of ESG decoupling, thereby broadening the literature on ESG decoupling.

Suggested Citation

  • Wan, Peng & Yang, Yu & Chen, Xiangyu, 2025. "Does confucian culture restrain ESG decoupling? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:104:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025007683
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104605
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056025007683
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2025.104605?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

    for a different version of it.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Lumeng, Wang & Shilai, Chen & Jo, Hoje & Sial, Muhammad Safdar, 2026. "Information infrastructure, knowledge spillover, and technological innovation — Evidence from the internet penetration rates of emerging market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    2. Xin, Baogui & Wang, Yuanrui & Peng, Wei & Tan, Hui & Kwon, Jiwon, 2026. "Advancing energy justice through ESG: The role of confucian culture and digital finance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:reveco:v:104:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025007683. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/inca/620165 .

    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.