The Internal Income Distribution Effect of ESG:Evidence from Listed Companies in China
Income distribution is a major issue related to national economy and people's liveli-hood.As the main battlefield of initial income distribution,enterprises have become a new driv-ing force to regulate income distribution,adhere to the basic synchronization of labor remunera-tion and labor productivity improvement,and demonstrate ESG performance in promoting sus-tainable economic development goals.This article selects listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in China from 2009 to 2022 as the sample,and studies the internal in-come distribution effects of implementing ESG concepts in enterprises.The results show that ESG performance can widen the internal income gap of enterprises within a reasonable range.After a series of endogeneity and robustness tests,the conclusion is still valid.This article con-ducted mechanism tests from the dimensions of market,enterprise,and group,and found that the expansion effect of employment scale,,incentive loss,and group endowment differentiation effect are the channels through which ESG performance widens the internal income gap of enter-prises.The heterogeneity test results indicate that stricter external auditing and the intensity of competition in the industry where the enterprise operates are important factors affecting the con-clusion.This article reveals that while improving ESG performance,enterprises may face trade-offs between the interests of different internal groups.The conclusion reminds enterprises to pay attention to the internal income inequality when actively fulfilling their social responsibilities and helping the country achieve the"carbon peaking and carbon neutrality"goals.
ESGIncome Distribution GapEmployment ExpansionIncentive LossGroup Endowment
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
