重庆理工大学学报2025,Vol.39Issue(4):178-193,16.DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8425(s).2025.02.012
高管政治背景对企业ESG表现的影响研究
A study on the impact of executives'political background on corporate ESG performance
摘要
Abstract
In recent years,changes in the ecological environment and the exposure of corporate scandals have increased the expectations of outsiders for corporate environmental,social and ethical responsibility.ESG,as an indicator for measuring the level of environmental performance,social responsibility and corporate governance under the green standards of corporations,has become a research hotspot in recent years,and it also constitutes a key framework for the sustainable development of corporations,and its importance is self-evident.While pursuing economic benefits,enterprises have begun to pay attention to the performance of environmental protection,social responsibility and corporate governance.In this context,the characteristics of corporate executives,as the core force of strategic decision-making,especially their political background,have become an important factor affecting corporate ESG performance.This paper aims to deeply analyse the relationship between the political background and corporate ESG performance,and reveals the intrinsic mechanism of action through theoretical analysis and empirical research.From the theoretical perspective,executives with political backgrounds can bring many advantages to companies by virtue of their extensive network resources and policy acumen.In terms of environmental protection(E),it is easier for them to obtain information on environmental policies,guide enterprises to layout green technology R&D and production in advance,promote energy saving and emission reduction,and reduce environmental risks.In terms of social responsibility(S),a political background helps companies better understand the needs of society,actively participate in public welfare,strengthen the protection of employees'rights and interests,and enhance their social reputation.In terms of corporate governance(G),political affiliation can help companies improve their governance structure,enhance the scientificity and transparency of decision-making,and effectively prevent internal risks.However,the political background of executives may also bring certain negative effects.Some studies have pointed out that political affiliation may cause companies to rely too much on government relations and neglect their own continuous improvement and innovation in ESG.This paper selects a sample of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2013 to 2021 to empirically examine the impact of executives'political background on corporate ESG performance and the mechanism of its effect.The study comes to following findings.First,executive political background will improve firms'ESG performance through two paths:alleviating financing constraints and increasing media attention.It is worth noting that some firms improve their ESG performance in order for executives to increase the'halo effect'for themselves by influencing stakeholders'perceptions of their support for ESG actions,which implies that,all else being equal,the cost of improving ESG performance should not exceed the possible benefits to the firm,in order to avoid any excessive costs arising from opportunistic behaviour by individual executives.This is to avoid any assumption of over-investment arising from opportunistic behaviour by individual executives.Regardless of the objective,however,this allows firms to maintain their sustainability,build a positive reputation,gain the trust of stakeholders,and engage in national sustainable development issues.Secondly,by further analysing the heterogeneity of firms with different characteristics,the study finds that the path of executive political affiliation that promotes ESG performance by alleviating corporate finance constraints is significant only among firms with longer years of listing and larger size;the path of executive political affiliation that promotes ESG performance by increasing media attention is not held among smaller firms.The study also reveals the characteristics of corporate ESG performance affected by executive political background,.The conclusion of this paper suggests that,in order to give full play to the positive effects of executive political background on corporate ESG performance and avoid its potential negative impacts,firms need to establish a scientific decision-making mechanism to ensure the independence and objectivity of ESG decision-making.At the same time,they need to strengthen the ESG training and education of their executive teams and raise their awareness of and attention to ESG issues.The government can take measures to reasonably guide executives with political backgrounds to build ESG,but it is expected to conduct administrative intervention properly in resource allocation,compress the rent-seeking space of enterprises,and build a fair market environment.The study promotes enterprises'awareness of ESG performance from a perspective of government-embedded,and provides new impetus for a sustainable and healthy development of enterprises,and thus it has certain practical value.关键词
高管政治背景/ESG表现/融资约束/媒体关注度Key words
executive political background/ESG performance/financing constraint/media attention分类
管理科学引用本文复制引用
宋蔚蔚,李如彤,胡显莉..高管政治背景对企业ESG表现的影响研究[J].重庆理工大学学报,2025,39(4):178-193,16.基金项目
重庆理工大学研究生科研创新项目"政治关联下环境信息披露质量对企业融资约束的影响研究——基于重污染行业上市公司的经验证据"(gzlcx20223428) (gzlcx20223428)
重庆市高等教育教学改革研究项目"基于OBE理念的混合式教学模式的探索与实践"(203343) (203343)