IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v12y2025i1d10.1057_s41599-025-04755-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the heterogeneous effects of environmental, social, and governance performance on idiosyncratic risk: do political ties matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Jie Deng

    (Clear Water Bay)

Abstract

As global attention to sustainable development intensifies, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors have become crucial for firms in managing stakeholder relationships and risks. However, the heterogeneous impact of different dimensions of ESG performance on idiosyncratic risk (IR) remains unclear. Drawing upon the stakeholder theory, this study investigates the differing impacts of separate E, S, and G performance on IR, as well as the contingency role of political ties. Using a dataset of 2436 Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2019, the empirical results indicate that S and G performance significantly mitigate IR, and these linear negative relationships are enhanced by political ties. Surprisingly, the linear effect of E performance on IR is not significant, but the post-hoc analysis reveals an inverted U-shaped relationship between E performance and IR. More importantly, this curvilinear linkage is steeper for firms with political ties. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis indicates that firms with the chief executive officer (CEO) duality make the effects of E, S, and G performance on IR insignificant. This study extends the growing literature on ESG and risk management, guiding firms to develop differentiated ESG investment strategies and offering actionable insights for firms to better benefit from their ESG performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Deng, 2025. "Exploring the heterogeneous effects of environmental, social, and governance performance on idiosyncratic risk: do political ties matter?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04755-6
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04755-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-04755-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-025-04755-6?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. Omrane Guedhami & Jeffrey A. Pittman & Walid Saffar, 2014. "Auditor Choice in Politically Connected Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 107-162, March.
    2. Mohammed Benlemlih & Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2018. "Environmental and Social Disclosures and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 613-626, October.
    3. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    4. Gao, Yang & Ling, Yun & Peng, Hui, 2024. "Before thrive, first survive: The impact of controlling shareholder pledging on corporate ESG performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Mark P. Sharfman & Chitru S. Fernando, 2008. "Environmental risk management and the cost of capital," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 569-592, June.
    6. Valentina Lagasio & Nicola Cucari, 2019. "Corporate governance and environmental social governance disclosure: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 701-711, July.
    7. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Lingxiang Li, 2016. "Abnormal real operations, real earnings management, and subsequent crashes in stock prices," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 217-260, February.
    8. Anrafel Souza Barbosa & Maria Cristina Basilio Crispim Silva & Luiz Bueno Silva & Sandra Naomi Morioka & Vinícius Fernandes Souza, 2023. "Integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria: their impacts on corporate sustainability performance," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Lapologang, Sebaka & Zhao, Shuliang, 2023. "The impact of environmental policy mechanisms on green innovation performance: the roles of environmental disclosure and political ties," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. María Garrido‐Ruso & Luis Otero‐González & María‐Celia López‐Penabad & Pablo Durán Santomil, 2024. "Does ESG implementation influence performance and risk in SMEs?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4227-4247, September.
    11. Jooh Lee & Kyungyeon (Rachel) Koh, 2024. "ESG performance and firm risk in the U.S. financial firms," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3), pages 328-344, July.
    12. Tessema, Abiot, 2019. "The impact of corporate governance and political connections on information asymmetry: International evidence from banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-17.
    13. Tanveer Ahsan & Sultan Sikandar Mirza & Ammar Ali Gull & Muhammad Ansar Majeed, 2023. "How to deal with customer and supplier concentration to attain sustainable financial growth? The role of business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4600-4619, November.
    14. Zengfu Li & Liuhua Feng & Zheng Pan & Hafiz M. Sohail, 2022. "ESG performance and stock prices: evidence from the COVID-19 outbreak in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
    15. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Lingxiang Li, 2016. "Abnormal real operations, real earnings management, and subsequent crashes in stock prices," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 217-260, February.
    16. Yang, Gangqiang & Nie, Yiming & Li, Honggui & Wang, Haisen, 2023. "Digital transformation and low-carbon technology innovation in manufacturing firms: The mediating role of dynamic capabilities," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    17. Bai Xue & Zhuang Zhang & Pingli Li, 2020. "Corporate environmental performance, environmental management and firm risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1074-1096, March.
    18. Gregorio Martín‐de Castro & Javier Amores‐Salvadó & José E. Navas‐López, 2016. "Environmental Management Systems and Firm Performance: Improving Firm Environmental Policy through Stakeholder Engagement," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 243-256, July.
    19. Monica Singhania & Dimple Gupta, 2024. "Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure on firm risk: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3573-3613, July.
    20. Leyva-de la Hiz, Dante I. & Bolívar-Ramos, María Teresa, 2022. "The inverted U relationship between green innovative activities and firms’ market-based performance: The impact of firm age," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    21. Xiangan Ding & Zhonglin Sheng & Andrea Appolloni & Mohsin Shahzad & Shaojie Han, 2024. "Digital transformation, ESG practice, and total factor productivity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4547-4561, July.
    22. Liming Zhang & Fei Ye & Li Yang & Guichuan Zhou, 2019. "Impact of Political Connections on Corporate Environmental Performance: From a Green Development Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    23. Markus Hang & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Andreas W. Rathgeber, 2019. "It is merely a matter of time: A meta‐analysis of the causality between environmental performance and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 257-273, February.
    24. Bryan W Husted & David B Allen, 2006. "Corporate social responsibility in the multinational enterprise: strategic and institutional approaches," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 838-849, November.
    25. Zhihua Cheng & Feng Wang & Christine Keung & Yongxiu Bai, 2017. "Will Corporate Political Connection Influence the Environmental Information Disclosure Level? Based on the Panel Data of A-Shares from Listed Companies in Shanghai Stock Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 209-221, June.
    26. Guo Li & Na Li & Suresh P. Sethi, 2021. "Does CSR Reduce Idiosyncratic Risk? Roles of Operational Efficiency and AI Innovation," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(7), pages 2027-2045, July.
    27. Kim, Yongtae & Li, Haidan & Li, Siqi, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility and stock price crash risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-13.
    28. Ye, Fei & Ouyang, You & Li, Yina, 2023. "Digital investment and environmental performance: The mediating roles of production efficiency and green innovation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    29. Hongquan Chen & Saixing Zeng & Han Lin & Hanyang Ma, 2017. "Munificence, Dynamism, and Complexity: How Industry Context Drives Corporate Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 125-141, February.
    30. Jianjun Zhang & Christopher Marquis & Kunyuan Qiao, 2016. "Do Political Connections Buffer Firms from or Bind Firms to the Government? A Study of Corporate Charitable Donations of Chinese Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1307-1324, October.
    31. Balachandran, Balasingham & Faff, Robert, 2015. "Corporate governance, firm value and risk: Past, present, and future," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 1-12.
    32. Cline, Brandon N. & Yore, Adam S., 2016. "Silverback CEOs: Age, experience, and firm value," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 169-188.
    33. Bhaskar, Ratikant & Bansal, Shashank & Pandey, Dharen Kumar, 2024. "CEO duality and corporate social responsibility: A moderation effect of founder CEO," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    34. Saurabh Mishra & Sachin Modi, 2013. "Positive and Negative Corporate Social Responsibility, Financial Leverage, and Idiosyncratic Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 431-448, October.
    35. Khurram, Muhammad Usman & Abbassi, Wajih & Chen, Yifan & Chen, Lifeng, 2024. "Outward foreign investment performance, digital transformation, and ESG performance: Evidence from China," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    36. 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).
    37. Wang, Yizhong & Yao, Chengxue & Kang, Di, 2019. "Political connections and firm performance: Evidence from government officials' site visits," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    38. Sirimon Treepongkaruna & Khine Kyaw & Pornsit Jiraporn, 2024. "ESG controversies and corporate governance: Evidence from board size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4218-4232, July.
    39. Hsiao-Fen Hsiao & Tingyong Zhong & Jun Wang, 2024. "Does national culture influence corporate social responsibility on firm performance?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    40. Heli Wang & Ming Jia & Zhe Zhang, 2021. "Good Deeds Done in Silence: Stakeholder Management and Quiet Giving by Chinese Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 649-674, May.
    41. Zhang, Cui, 2017. "Political connections and corporate environmental responsibility: Adopting or escaping?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 539-547.
    42. Haifeng Huang & Zhenrui Zhao, 2016. "The influence of political connection on corporate social responsibility——evidence from Listed private companies in China," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-19, December.
    43. Xue, Qinyuan & Jin, Yifei & Zhang, Cheng, 2024. "ESG rating results and corporate total factor productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    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. Monica Singhania & Dimple Gupta, 2024. "Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure on firm risk: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3573-3613, July.
    2. Bai Xue & Zhuang Zhang & Pingli Li, 2020. "Corporate environmental performance, environmental management and firm risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1074-1096, March.
    3. Farman Ullah Khan & Junrui Zhang & Nanyan Dong & Muhammad Usman & Sajid Ullah & Shahid Ali, 2021. "Does privatization matter for corporate social responsibility? Evidence from China," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(3), pages 497-515, September.
    4. 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).
    5. Paola Brighi & Antonio Carlo Francesco Della Bina & Valeria Venturelli, 2022. "Do ESG Investments Mitigate ESG Controversies? Evidence From International Data," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0084, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    6. Zhu, Bo & Wang, Yiwei, 2024. "Green governance and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    7. Wenbing Luo & Ziyan Tian & Xusheng Fang & Mingjun Deng, 2024. "Can good ESG performance reduce stock price crash risk? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1469-1492, May.
    8. Yuxuan Li & Xin Miao & Dequan Zheng & Yanhong Tang, 2019. "Corporate Public Transparency on Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Political Embeddedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, October.
    9. Stephen Bahadar & Muhammad Nadeem & Rashid Zaman, 2023. "Toxic chemical releases and idiosyncratic return volatility: A prospect theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2109-2143, June.
    10. Zuo, Jingjing & Qiu, Baoyin & Zhu, Guoyiming & Lei, Guangyong, 2023. "Local speculative culture and stock price crash risk," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Habib, Ahsan & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2017. "Business strategy, overvalued equities, and stock price crash risk," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 389-405.
    12. Becchetti, Leonardo & Cucinelli, Doriana & Ielasi, Federica & Rossolini, Monica, 2023. "Corporate social irresponsibility: The relationship between ESG misconduct and the cost of equity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Boubaker, Sabri & Cellier, Alexis & Manita, Riadh & Saeed, Asif, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce financial distress risk?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 835-851.
    14. Fu, Changluan & Yu, Chenyang & Guo, Mengting & Zhang, Lin, 2024. "ESG rating and financial risk of mining industry companies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Fatima Sultana & Muhammad Aslam & Ammara Sarwar & Amjad Iqbal, 2022. "Impact of Audit Quality on Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 4(3), pages 161-169.
    16. Erin H. Kao & Ho-Chuan Huang & Hung-Gay Fung & Xiaojian Liu, 2020. "Co-opted directors, gender diversity, and crash risk: evidence from China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 461-500, August.
    17. Breuer, Wolfgang & Müller, Torbjörn & Rosenbach, David & Salzmann, Astrid, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility, investor protection, and cost of equity: A cross-country comparison," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 34-55.
    18. Lu, Hao & Oh, Won-Yong & Kleffner, Anne & Chang, Young Kyun, 2021. "How do investors value corporate social responsibility? Market valuation and the firm specific contexts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 14-25.
    19. Hong Xu & Yukun Li & Weifen Lin & Hui Wang, 2024. "ESG and customer stability: a perspective based on external and internal supervision and reputation mechanisms," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    20. Danni Yu & Tiantian Meng & Minyu Zheng & Rongyi Ma, 2024. "ESG uncertainty, investor attention and stock price crash risk in China: evidence from PVAR model analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    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:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04755-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    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.