How CEO social capital affects corporate ESG performance? evidence from China

IF 8.7 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Economic Analysis and Policy Pub Date : 2025-09-11 DOI:10.1016/j.eap.2025.09.010

Wenbing Luo , Shuting Lei , Mingjun Deng

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Abstract

As the top manager of a firm, the CEO plays a key role in shaping the firm's strategic direction, including environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues. This paper empirically examines the impact of CEO social capital on ESG performance using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022. The findings indicate that CEO social capital significantly contributes to the improvement of corporate ESG performance. It is further found that digital transformation and corporate innovation are the two major channels. CEO shareholding and environmental uncertainty positively and negatively moderates the effect of CEO social capital on ESG performance, respectively. The positive correlation between CEO social capital and ESG performance is stronger in state-owned firms, high-tech firms, and heavily polluted firms. The three segments of CEO social capital have different impacts on different dimensions of ESG performance. This paper confirms the positive impact of CEO social capital on ESG performance and provides ideas for companies to better practice ESG concepts.

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CEO社会资本如何影响企业ESG绩效？来自中国的证据

作为企业的最高管理者，CEO在塑造企业的战略方向方面发挥着关键作用，包括环境、社会和公司治理（ESG）问题。本文以2011 - 2022年中国a股上市公司为样本，实证检验了CEO社会资本对ESG绩效的影响。研究结果表明，CEO社会资本对企业ESG绩效的提升有显著的促进作用。进一步发现，数字化转型和企业创新是企业创新的两大主要渠道。CEO持股和环境不确定性分别正向和负向调节CEO社会资本对ESG绩效的影响。在国有企业、高新技术企业和重污染企业中，CEO社会资本与ESG绩效的正相关关系更为显著。CEO社会资本的三个部分对ESG绩效的不同维度有不同的影响。本文证实了CEO社会资本对ESG绩效的积极影响，为企业更好地实践ESG理念提供了思路。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Economic Analysis and Policy ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

9.80

自引率

9.20%

发文量

231

审稿时长

93 days

期刊介绍： Economic Analysis and Policy (established 1970) publishes articles from all branches of economics with a particular focus on research, theoretical and applied, which has strong policy relevance. The journal also publishes survey articles and empirical replications on key policy issues. Authors are expected to highlight the main insights in a non-technical introduction and in the conclusion.