IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i13p5543-d1424956.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Fulfilling ESG Responsibilities Curb Corporate Leverage Manipulation? Evidence from Chinese-Listed Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Yalin Mo

    (School of Economics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China)

  • Fenglan Wei

    (School of Economics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China)

  • Yihan Huang

    (School of Economics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China)

Abstract

Against the backdrop of economic transformation and sustainable development, this paper utilizes listed companies from the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2009 to 2021 as research samples, measures corporate leverage manipulation levels using the XLT-LEVM method, and employs a panel fixed effects model to empirically examine the impact of corporate ESG responsibility fulfillment on leverage manipulation behaviors and its underlying mechanisms. The results show that the performance of ESG responsibility can inhibit the leverage manipulation behavior of enterprises, and this effect is more obvious in enterprises with low analyst attention and excessive debt. Mechanism tests reveal that the fulfillment of ESG responsibilities by corporations exerts both reputational and informational effects, which, by mitigating financing constraints and enhancing information transparency, subsequently curtail corporate leverage manipulation. The analysis of economic consequences demonstrates that the inhibitory effect of ESG responsibility fulfillment on corporate leverage manipulation contributes to reducing the risk of corporate debt default. The research conclusions of this paper hold instructive significance for the positive governance role of ESG performance. Consequently, governments and regulatory bodies should guide and support enterprises in assuming ESG responsibilities, and corporations should increase their investments in ESG and enhance their ESG performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Yalin Mo & Fenglan Wei & Yihan Huang, 2024. "Does Fulfilling ESG Responsibilities Curb Corporate Leverage Manipulation? Evidence from Chinese-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5543-:d:1424956
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5543/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5543/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anis Maaloul & Daniel Zéghal & Walid Ben Amar & Sari Mansour, 2023. "The Effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Performance and Disclosure on Cost of Debt: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Reputation," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(1), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Zhang, Dongyang & Lucey, Brian M., 2022. "Sustainable behaviors and firm performance: The role of financial constraints’ alleviation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 220-233.
    3. Jing Zhang & Ziyang Liu, 2023. "Study on the Impact of Corporate ESG Performance on Green Innovation Performance—Evidence from Listed Companies in China A-Shares," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Yuexiang Yang & Zhihui Du & Zhen Zhang & Guanqun Tong & Rongxi Zhou, 2021. "Does ESG Disclosure Affect Corporate-Bond Credit Spreads? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Pedersen, Lasse Heje & Fitzgibbons, Shaun & Pomorski, Lukasz, 2021. "Responsible investing: The ESG-efficient frontier," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 572-597.
    6. Yuntian Xia & Junhao Hou & Hong Huang & Dongping Liu & Hongmei Ding, 2023. "Exploring the Impact of Firm Transparency on Green Innovation Legitimacy: Empirical Evidence from Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, June.
    7. Jun Xie & Wataru Nozawa & Michiyuki Yagi & Hidemichi Fujii & Shunsuke Managi, 2019. "Do environmental, social, and governance activities improve corporate financial performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 286-300, February.
    8. Guangyou Zhou & Lian Liu & Sumei Luo, 2022. "Sustainable development, ESG performance and company market value: Mediating effect of financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3371-3387, November.
    9. Yu, Fang (Frank), 2008. "Analyst coverage and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 245-271, May.
    10. Sreedhar T. Bharath & Tyler Shumway, 2008. "Forecasting Default with the Merton Distance to Default Model," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(3), pages 1339-1369, May.
    11. Lillian F. Mills & Kaye J. Newberry, 2005. "Firms' Off‐Balance Sheet and Hybrid Debt Financing: Evidence from Their Book‐Tax Reporting Differences," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 251-282, May.
    12. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Ruixin Su & Na Li, 2024. "Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance, Platform Governance, and Value Creation of Platform Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Dingzu Zhang & Luqi Liu, 2022. "Does ESG Performance Enhance Financial Flexibility? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Lai, Xiaobing & Zhang, Fan, 2022. "Can ESG certification help company get out of over-indebtedness? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Xiao Bing Ma, 2020. "U.S. Political Corruption And Loan Pricing," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 459-489, August.
    5. Binbin Yang & Sang Do Park, 2024. "Under the ESG Dome of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-23, August.
    6. Meles, Antonio & Salerno, Dario & Sampagnaro, Gabriele & Verdoliva, Vincenzo & Zhang, Jianing, 2023. "The influence of green innovation on default risk: Evidence from Europe," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 692-710.
    7. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.
    8. Guo, Bing & Pérez-Castrillo, David & Toldrà-Simats, Anna, 2019. "Firms’ innovation strategy under the shadow of analyst coverage," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(2), pages 456-483.
    9. Delong Li & Nicolas E. Magud & Fabian Valencia, 2020. "Financial Shocks and Corporate Investment in Emerging Markets," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(2-3), pages 613-644, March.
    10. Tan, Yafei & Zhu, Zhaohui, 2022. "The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers' environmental awareness," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. D'Mello, Ranjan & Toscano, Francesca, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and short-term financing: The case of trade credit," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Miquel-Flores, Ixart & Reghezza, Alessio & Buchetti, Bruno & Perdichizzi, Salvatore, 2024. "Greening the economy: how public-guaranteed loans influence firm-level resource allocation," Working Paper Series 2916, European Central Bank.
    13. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Zhao, Yang, 2023. "Digital finance and corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Khurram, Muhammad Usman & Chen, Lifeng & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul & Adu, Douglas A. & Lucey, Brian, 2024. "ESG disclosure and internal pay gap: Empirical evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 228-244.
    15. Kaouther Chebbi & Mohammed Abdullah Ammer, 2022. "Board Composition and ESG Disclosure in Saudi Arabia: The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance Reforms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-25, September.
    16. Duran, Miguel A., 2022. "The risk–return relation in the corporate loan market," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    17. Hui-Lin Zhu & Ke-Zhi Yang, 2024. "The Spillover Effect of ESG Performance on Green Innovation—Evidence from Listed Companies in China A-Shares," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-31, April.
    18. Li, WeiWei & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Huang, Chia-Hsing, 2024. "ESG and debt structure: Is the nature of this relationship nonlinear?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Giulio Bottazzi & Marco Grazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2011. "Financial and economic determinants of firm default," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 373-406, August.
    20. Giovanni Cardillo & Ennio Bendinelli & Giuseppe Torluccio, 2023. "COVID‐19, ESG investing, and the resilience of more sustainable stocks: Evidence from European firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 602-623, January.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5543-:d:1424956. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.