Weng Linglve, Ma Yani, Han Zhuoxin, Dong Peiting
State Grid Jinhua Power Supply Co, Jinhua, 32100, Zhejiang, China.
Guodian Nanrui Technol Co Ltd, Nanjing, 211106, China.
Heliyon. 2024 Aug 13;10(16):e36266. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36266. eCollection 2024 Aug 30.
Sustainable development is crucial for enterprises' long-term development and influences broader socio-economic outcomes. The ESG performance is essential for assessing enterprises' sustainable development. Executives, as crucial implementers of corporate strategy, play an indispensable role in the pursuit of sustainable development. However, the impact of executives' military background on enterprise ESG performance remains understudied and lacks consensus in the existing literature. Therefore, this study examines the logical relationship between top managers' military experience and Chinese enterprises' performance concerning environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance (ESG) using data from 4543 publicly traded companies between 2010 and 2021. The results demonstrate that top managers' military experience is positively correlated with enterprises' ESG performance. The promotional impact of the baseline regression indicates that the effect is primarily imparted through enterprises' governance, including profit, total revenue and net profit. Heterogeneity tests show that top managers' military experience is a more effective means to promote enterprises' ESG performance in high research and development investing enterprises, small enterprises, those with female directors and enterprises in central and western China. This study not only enriches the understanding of the economic implications of executive military experience, but also provides theoretical support for enterprises to formulate relevant policies and construct management teams to improve their ESG performance and achieve sustainable development.
可持续发展对企业的长期发展至关重要，并影响更广泛的社会经济成果。企业的环境、社会和治理（ESG）表现是评估企业可持续发展的关键。高管作为公司战略的关键实施者，在追求可持续发展中发挥着不可或缺的作用。然而，高管的军事背景对企业ESG表现的影响在现有文献中仍未得到充分研究，且缺乏共识。因此，本研究利用2010年至2021年间4543家上市公司的数据，考察了高层管理人员的军事经历与中国企业在环境保护、社会责任和公司治理（ESG）方面的表现之间的逻辑关系。结果表明，高层管理人员的军事经历与企业的ESG表现呈正相关。基准回归的促进作用表明，这种影响主要通过企业治理来实现，包括利润、总收入和净利润。异质性检验表明，在高研发投入企业、小企业、有女性董事的企业以及中西部企业中，高层管理人员的军事经历是促进企业ESG表现的更有效手段。本研究不仅丰富了对高管军事经历经济影响的理解，也为企业制定相关政策和构建管理团队以提高其ESG表现并实现可持续发展提供了理论支持。
