Qin Jidong, Wang Meijia
Business School, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 6;20(1):e0317191. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317191. eCollection 2025.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings are receiving increasing attention in credit markets. However, ESG rating disagreement erects obstacles for companies in obtaining capital resources. This study investigates the impact of ESG rating disagreement on bank loan availability uses data of Chinese listed firms from 2014 to 2022, and employs models with multiple regression analyses and fixed effects. We find that greater ESG rating disagreement leads to a decrease in newly obtained bank loans. The mechanism analysis confirms that ESG rating disagreement amplifies information asymmetry and increases operational uncertainty, thereby raising the information and credit risks faced by banks, leading to a decrease in bank loan availability. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the negative effect of ESG rating disagreement on bank loan availability is more pronounced in firms with poor financing capabilities, poor information environments, and fierce competitive macro environments. Our findings contribute to the literature on ESG rating disagreement from credit markets, which are important for a more comprehensive and objective understanding of ESG rating disagreement.
环境、社会和治理（ESG）评级在信贷市场中受到越来越多的关注。然而，ESG评级分歧给公司获取资本资源带来了障碍。本研究利用2014年至2022年中国上市公司的数据，调查ESG评级分歧对银行贷款可得性的影响，并采用多元回归分析和固定效应模型。我们发现，更大的ESG评级分歧会导致新获得的银行贷款减少。机制分析证实，ESG评级分歧加剧了信息不对称，增加了运营不确定性，从而提高了银行面临的信息和信用风险，导致银行贷款可得性下降。异质性分析表明，ESG评级分歧对银行贷款可得性的负面影响在融资能力差、信息环境差和宏观竞争激烈的公司中更为明显。我们的研究结果为信贷市场中关于ESG评级分歧的文献做出了贡献，这对于更全面、客观地理解ESG评级分歧具有重要意义。
