Does digital financial inclusion matter for firms’ ESG disclosure? Evidence from China

Abstract

Using a sample of Chinese listed firms during 2010–2018, this paper examines the relationship between digital financial inclusion and firms’ ESG disclosure. The results show that 1) digital financial inclusion can significantly promote firms’ ESG disclosure; 2) the promotion effect of digital financial inclusion on firms’ ESG disclosure occurs mainly through channels including the coverage breadth and usage depth; and 3) for firms with higher financing constraints and state-owned enterprises, the promotion effect of digital financial inclusion on firms’ ESG disclosure is more prominent. This paper provides relevant conclusions and insights for promoting firms’ ESG information disclosure, integrating the digital economy, and encouraging innovation development.

Sustainable Digital Shifts in Chinese Transport and Logistics: Exploring Green Innovations and Their ESG Implications

“…First, digital transformation can promote the green development of enterprises. On the one hand, digital transformation can significantly promote the development of green technology innovation [48]. The development of green technology can improve the environmental performance of enterprises, help enterprises treat the symptoms, and reduce the cost of pollution control.…”

“…Based on information asymmetry theory and agency theory, digital transformation and financing constraints have interactive effects, such as digital transformation can reduce information asymmetry to alleviate financing constraints [47]. Also, some studies suggest that digital transformation can significantly promote enterprises' green innovation capability [48]. This article, based on agency theory, selects financing constraints as a moderating variable.…”

“…For instance, Wu and Li (2023) found that the greater the external environmental unpredictability, the more diminished the beneficial effect of digital transition on corporate ESG performance [47]. Lu et al (2022) focused on information disclosure and discovered that the inclusivity of digital finance in digital transformation can enhance corporate ESG disclosure [48].…”

Achieving carbon neutrality: How does the construction of national high-tech zones affect the green innovation of enterprises? Based on quasi-natural experiments in pilot areas in China

“…The creation of high-tech zones has boosted the competitiveness of high-tech enterprises and encouraged commercial potential for green innovation. However, to promote the influence of the institutional environment and achieve green innovation and development across the entire region, non-hightech industries must continue to fully exploit the policy dividends provided by the high-tech zone policy (Lu et al, 2022).…”

ESG disclosure facilitator: How do the multiple large shareholders affect firms’ ESG disclosure? evidence from China

“…Since the United Nations integrated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2006, the ESG (Environment, Social, and Government) has drawn a lot of scholars' attention and become a hot topic in academia and practice (Siew et al, 2016;Li et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020;Li et al, 2021;Kolsi et al, 2022;Lu et al, 2022;Yoo and Managi, 2022). A growing strand of literature has examined the influence factors of ESG disclosure, such as corporate virtue (Christensen et al, 2022), board gender diversity (Manita et al, 2018), external natural disasters (Huang et al, 2022), and board structure (Husted and de Sousa-Filho, 2019).…”