The Influence of ESG Performance on Corporate Value: An Empirical Analysis of Chinese A-Share Listed Sports Companies

Abstract

This study uses a two-way fixed-effect model to analyze the impact of ESG performance on corporate value based on the quarterly data of Chinese A-share listed sports companies from 2018 to 2022. The results prove that (1) The ESG performance of sports enterprises positively affects corporate value: the higher the ESG score is, the higher the corporate value is. (2) Mechanism analysis shows that financing constraints play a partially mediating role in the relationship between ESG performance and corporate value. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that corporate political relations will weaken the facilitating effect of ESG performance on corporate value. The stronger the political relations are, the weaker the facilitating effect of ESG performance on corporate value. Compared with that during the bear market, the performance of ESG in the bull market has a greater facilitating effect on corporate value. Compared with sports service enterprises, sports goods enterprises’ ESG performance has a stronger facilitating effect on corporate value.