Corporate ESG performance and the cost of debt financing
Based on the panel data of China's A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2022,the impact of corporate ESG performance on debt financing cost is empirically investigated,and the results show that:(1)The improvement of corporate ESG performance helps to reduce its debt financing cost,and the results are still valid through the robustness test as well as the endogeneity test;(2)The mediation test shows that corporate ESG performance reduces debt financing cost by improving corporate reputation,reduce financing constraints to reduce debt financing costs;(3)The heterogeneity analysis concludes that the ESG performance of non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises in the central and eastern regions has a more obvious effect on the reduction of debt financing costs.The results call for enterprises to actively strengthen ESG practices and improve ESG disclosure;The government and regulatory authorities should improve ESG disclosure system and do a good job in monitoring and guiding;Investors should pay attention to the ESG practices of enterprises while focusing on financial indicators in order to reduce investment risks.