资本市场开放对企业ESG表现的引导作用：来自“沪港通”的经验证据

The Influence of Stock Market Liberalization on Corporate ESG Performance: Evidence from “Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect”

摘要: 企业ESG表现的提升不仅有利于经济高质量发展，而且有利于国内企业按照更高的标准走向国际，实现更高水平的“走出去”。研究选取了2011年至2020年间在中国A股市场上市的企业为研究对象，同时以2014年启动的沪港通交易制度作为特定事件，探讨资本市场开放对企业环境、社会和治理(ESG)表现的影响。研究结果表明：资本市场开放有利于提升企业ESG表现水平。在经过一系列稳健性检验后，该结论依然成立。异质性分析表明，国有企业和非重污染企业的ESG表现提升更为明显。机制研究表明，资本市场的开放性能够通过减轻企业的融资限制并改善投资者构成，进而提高企业的ESG表现。进一步分析表明，资本市场开放对企业的环境和公司治理表现的提升更为显著，对企业社会责任表现不显著。此外，“董监高”具有海外背景以及高质量外部审计有利于提升企业ESG表现。

Abstract: The improvement of corporate ESG performance not only benefits the high-quality development of the economy but also facilitates domestic companies to achieve higher standards and go global, realizing a higher level of “going out”. This paper, based on the initial sample of listed companies on the A-share market in China from 2011 to 2020, and utilizing the implementation of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect trading system in 2014, investigates the relationship between capital market openness and corporate ESG performance. The results show that capital market openness is beneficial to improving the level of corporate ESG performance. After various robustness checks, this conclusion remains valid. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that ESG performance improvements are more significant for state-owned enterprises and non-polluting companies. Mechanism analysis suggests that capital market openness alleviates corporate financing constraints and optimizes investor structures, thereby improving corporate ESG performance. Further analysis indicates that capital market openness has a more significant impact on environmental and corporate governance performance, but does not have a significant impact on corporate social responsibility performance. Additionally, the presence of “directors, supervisors, and managers” with overseas backgrounds and high-quality external audits is beneficial for enhancing corporate ESG performance.