Curse or blessing? Impact of the scope and duration of negative attainment discrepancy on ESG practices

Today, scholarly discourse has been primarily centered around the causes and consequences of enterprise environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. However, given that enterprises may encounter negative attainment discrepancies across several areas (scope) and endure negative discrepancies over an extended period of time (duration), the question of whether and how negative attainment discrepancy affects enterprise ESG practices remains unexplored. Based on the behavioral theory of the firm, this study explores the differentiated impact of the scope and duration of negative attainment discrepancies on enterprise ESG practices, using Chinese A-share listed companies (data from 2011 to 2019) as the research sample. Meanwhile, it investigates the moderating effect of multidimensional human capital in Top Management Teams (TMT) from technical background, overseas experience, and educational attainment. The results demonstrated that the scope of negative attainment discrepancy promotes enterprise ESG practice, while the duration of negative attainment discrepancy inhibits ESG practice. Furthermore, the TMT's technical background, overseas experience, and educational attainment strengthen the scope of negative attainment discrepancies in promoting enterprise ESG practice. Additionally, the overseas experience of the TMT reinforces the inhibitory impact of the duration of negative attainment discrepancies on enterprise ESG. The results of this study can provide the corresponding decision-making suggestions and references for the senior management team and shareholders of enterprises.