提升内部控制质量能降低企业ESG评级分歧吗

Can Improving Internal Control Quality Reduce the Divergence of Corporate ESG Ratings?

ESG评级分歧不仅会扰乱投资者判断,同时也传递了企业在某些领域存在信息不对称,此时加强内部控制至关重要。基于信息不对称理论、内部治理理论和利益相关者理论,选取2015-2022年A股上市公司数据,构建面板数据模型,分析了内部控制对ESG评级分歧的影响及其实现机制。实证发现,提升内部控制质量能显著降低企业ESG评级分歧程度,不过这一负向效应主要存在于民营企业和盈利差的企业中,同时对高管权力大的企业的负效应更强。机制分析表明,内部控制通过提高信息披露质量、抑制盈余管理和增加社会责任履行,进而降低企业ESG评级分歧程度。进一步,高管利益与企业价值趋同不仅能提升企业内部控制质量,同时还能强化内部控制质量对企业ESG评级分歧的负向效应。研究结论为企业主动寻求ESG评分的统一、降低ESG评级分歧提供了思路借鉴。

ESG rating divergence not only disrupts the correct judgment of stakeholders,but also“covers up”corporate earnings manipulation,false information disclosure and other behaviors.Therefore,how to curb ESG rating divergence is a question worth analyzing.This article selects data from A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2022 to analyze the impact of internal control on ESG rating divergence and its mechanism.Empirical results show that improving internal control quality can significantly reduce the degree of divergence in corporate ESG ratings,but this negative effect mainly exists in private enterprises and companies with poor profitability,and is even clearer for companies with strong executive.Mechanism analysis shows that internal control reduces the degree of divergence in corporate ESG ratings by strengthening the quality of information disclosure,suppressing earnings management and increasing the fulfillment of social responsibilities.Furthermore,the convergence of executive interests and corporate value can not only improve corporate internal control quality,but also strengthen the negative inhibitory effect of internal control quality on corporate ESG rating divergence.The research conclusion provides a reference for enterprises to actively seek the unification of ESG scores and reduce ESG rating divergence.