Leading Sustainability: The Impact of Executives’ Environmental Background on the Enterprise’s ESG Performance

Qian Zhang, Linfang Tan () and Da Gao ()
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Qian Zhang: School of Journalism and Communication, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Linfang Tan: School of Law and Business, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
Da Gao: School of Law and Business, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China

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

Abstract: Improving corporate ESG performance is regarded as a useful means to promote low-carbon transformation. Based on executive echelon theory, this study uses textual analysis to identify the executives’ environmental background characteristics and explores the impact on the company’s ESG performance, using data on China’s A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021. The empirical results show that (1) the environmental background of executives has a positive impact on the enterprise’s ESG performance, and a series of robustness tests reconfirm this finding. (2) The mediating effect model shows that the executives’ environmental background can trigger environmental investment and the green innovation effect, improving the enterprise’s ESG performance. (3) The heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of the environmental background of executives on the firm’s ESG performance is more sensitive in non-state-owned and heavily polluting enterprises. (4) Improving corporate ESG performance can also promote economic performance and achieve the dual goals of the “environment + economy”. The conclusions in this study provide a theoretical basis and practical enlightenment for the government to formulate environmental policies.

Keywords: executives’ environmental background; ESG performance; executive echelon theory; mechanism analysis (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: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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