The Proof Is in the Pudding: How Does Environmental, Social, and Governance Assurance Shape Non-Professional Investors’ Investment Preferences? Evidence from China

Yingxue Gao and Yan Chen ()
Additional contact information
Yingxue Gao: Department of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China
Yan Chen: Department of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian 116025, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: In this research, we conducted 1 × 3 and 2 × 2 between-subject experiments to delve into the impacts of ESG assurance, the assurance presentation mode, and the depth of assured ESG indicators on the investment inclination of non-professional investors. Our empirical findings illuminated that non-professional investors exhibited a stronger inclination to invest in companies endorsed with ESG assurance compared to those lacking such endorsement. Furthermore, we observed that this inclination was heightened by presenting the ESG assurance report separately from the ESG report and by enriching the assured ESG indicators. Mediation analysis underscored that the influence of ESG assurance on the investment willingness of non-professional investors operated through its effect on their perception of companies’ ESG performances. This study stands as a valuable addition to the literature on non-financial information disclosure, shedding light on the pivotal role of ESG assurance.

Keywords: ESG assurance; investment willingness; non-professional investors; assurance presentation method; assured ESG indicators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4699/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4699/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4699-:d:1406449

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().