ESG is conducive to improving the operating efficiency of fishery enterprises -- Based on DEA model and Tobit regression analysis

Abstract

Fisheries have a strategically significant position in the national economy as a major component of agricultural and rural economies. The establishment of a rational and efficient method for assessing operational efficiency contributes to a more profound understanding of the developmental state of publicly traded the fishing firms, thereby promoting the sustainable and sound growth of fishing industry. The operational efficiency of Chinese listed fishing firms was assessed in the study using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach in conjunction with Malmquist index, both in a static and dynamic manner, over the period between 2012 and 2022. Furthermore, in order to ascertain the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance on fishery-listed firms, the Tobit regression model was employed. The findings indicated that (1) although the overall comprehensive resource utilization efficiency of the industry is relatively high, it has not yet reached the optimal production frontier, and the low comprehensive efficiency of ZONECO is the most important reason for the ineffective average comprehensive efficiency of the fishery industry. (2) Dynamically, although technical efficiency shows an upward trend, the decline in the industry’s technical progress index still leads to a downward trend in total factor productivity. (3) ESG performance contributes to the operating efficiency of listed fishery companies.