School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
School of Finance, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.
J Environ Manage. 2024 Aug;366:121819. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121819. Epub 2024 Jul 13.
Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance reflects the alignment of firms with national strategies and macroeconomic development principles, and serves as a crucial foundation for achieving sustainable development. Investigating the factors driving corporate ESG performance has significant theoretical and practical implications. This study utilizes data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies in China from 2010 to 2022 and theoretically analyzes and empirically tests the effects and mechanisms of executives' green experience on overall ESG performance and performance on each element of ESG. The results indicate that executives' green experience enhances the efficiency of corporate green patent innovation, thereby improving environmental performance. In addition, green experiences foster environmental investment and charitable donations, leading to better social performance. Executives with green experience also attract green investors and analysts' attention, thereby improving corporate governance and ultimately positively affecting overall corporate ESG performance. The robustness of these findings is confirmed through alternative variable measurements, Propensity Score Matching(PSM) Tests, Entropy Balancing Tests, Instrumental Variable Tests, and controlling for the impact of significant public health events. Further analysis revealed that the positive effects of executives' green experiences on corporate ESG performance are more pronounced in non-heavily polluting corporations, non-state-owned corporations, and firms where executives have higher power. This study enriches research on the consequences of executives' green experiences and the determinants of corporate ESG performance, extending the boundaries of how executive characteristics influence micro-level corporate outcomes. It also provides valuable references for regulatory bodies promoting ESG practices and decision-making by capital market participants.
企业的环境、社会和治理（ESG）绩效反映了企业与国家战略和宏观经济发展原则的一致性，是实现可持续发展的重要基础。研究企业 ESG 绩效的驱动因素具有重要的理论和实践意义。本研究利用 2010 年至 2022 年中国上海和深圳 A 股上市公司的数据，从理论上分析和实证检验了高管绿色经验对整体 ESG 绩效和 ESG 各要素绩效的影响和作用机制。结果表明，高管绿色经验提高了企业绿色专利创新的效率，从而改善了环境绩效。此外，绿色经验促进了环境投资和慈善捐赠，从而提高了社会绩效。具有绿色经验的高管还吸引了绿色投资者和分析师的关注，从而改善了公司治理，最终对整体企业 ESG 绩效产生积极影响。通过替代变量测量、倾向得分匹配（PSM）检验、熵平衡检验、工具变量检验和控制重大公共卫生事件的影响，这些发现的稳健性得到了确认。进一步的分析表明，高管绿色经验对企业 ESG 绩效的积极影响在非重污染企业、非国有企业和高管权力较高的企业中更为明显。本研究丰富了高管绿色经验的后果和企业 ESG 绩效决定因素的研究，扩展了高管特征如何影响微观层面企业结果的边界。它还为监管机构促进 ESG 实践和资本市场参与者的决策提供了有价值的参考。
