Academic Journal of Business & Management, 2024, 6(9); doi: 10.25236/AJBM.2024.060934.
Xiaolu Hu1,2, Pin Shen1,2, Ruojie Cui2
1School of Accounting, Guangzhou College of Commerce, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511363, China
2Faculty of Finance, City University of Macau, Taipa, Macao, 999078, China
ESG provides a comprehensive framework for the company's sustainable development and helps to realize the goal of "double carbon". In this article, we take A-share listed companies in China from 2014 to 2022 as a sample, empirically examines the impact of corporate ESG performance on bond credit spreads, and analyzes the relationship between ESG performance and bond credit spreads in light of analysts' attention. The main findings are: first, the ESG performance of enterprises and bond credit spreads show a significant negative correlation. This reflects that the bond market is able to recognize firms with better ESG performance and price their bond issues reasonably. Second, this paper finds that analysts' attention strengthens the negative correlation between firms' ESG performance and bond credit spreads, and analysts' multi-party transmission of information reduces the impact of the information asymmetry problem and improves the efficiency of the role of firms' ESG performance on bond credit spreads. Third, the moderating effect of analyst attention on the relationship between ESG performance and bond credit spreads is more pronounced in more market-oriented regions than in less market-oriented regions. This paper enriches the research related to green transition and bond market, and provides certain theoretical basis for promoting the high-quality development of China's bond market.
ESG performance, analyst attention, bond credit spreads
Xiaolu Hu, Pin Shen, Ruojie Cui. ESG Performance, Analyst Attention and Bond Credit Spread: Empirical Evidence from China. Academic Journal of Business & Management (2024) Vol. 6, Issue 9: 249-256. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJBM.2024.060934.
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