ESG信息披露与ESG评级分歧:众口一词还是莫衷一是?——兼论中国ESG的制度规范

ESG Information Disclosure and ESG Rating Divergence:Consensus or Disagreement?——A Comprehensive Discussion on the Institutional Norms of ESG in China

ESG评级机构对上市公司ESG信息披露是众口一词还是莫衷一是?本文以2009-2021年被纳入ESG评级的中国A股上市公司为样本,采用均值回归与分位数回归的方法,检验了ESG信息披露程度对ESG评级分歧的影响。研究发现:由于现阶段我国ESG信息披露质量较差,ESG信息披露程度上升会加剧对非财务信息的主观解读差异,从而增加ESG评级分歧,且这一效应对于高分位的公司以及ESG中的社会和治理维度更加显著。此外,在我国“关系型”社会的背景下,本土评级机构具有地理邻近和本土政策优势,评级分歧主要产生在国内与国外ESG评级机构之间。最后,高质量的ESG信息披露有助于缓解ESG评级机构之间的意见分歧,产品市场竞争具有负向调节效应。本文为投资者依据ESG评级开展科学决策、加强上市公司ESG信息披露的顶层设计提供经验证据与参考依据。

Are ESG rating agencies consistent or inconsistent in disclosing ESG information of listed companies?This paper takes Chinese A-share listed firms included in ESG ratings from 2009 to 2021 as samples,employing both OLS regression and quantile regression methods to examine the impact of ESG information disclosure degree on ESG rating divergence.Research findings indicate that due to the poor quality of ESG information disclosure in China at this stage,an increase in the degree of ESG information disclosure exacerbates subjective interpretation differences of non-financial information,thereby increasing ESG rating divergence.Moreover,this effect is more pronounced for companies in higher percentiles and for the social and governance dimensions within ESG.In addition,in the context of Chinas“relationship-oriented”society,local rating agencies possess geographical proximity and local policy advantages,resulting in rating divergence primarily between domestic and foreign ESG rating agencies.Finally,high-quality ESG information disclosure helps alleviate differences of opinion among ESG rating agencies,with product market competition exhibiting a negative moderating effect.This paper provides empirical evidence and reference basis for investors to make scientifically informed decisions based on ESG ratings and for enhancing the top-level design of ESG information disclosure for listed companies.