Institutional Investor Shareholding,information Transparency And Enterprise ESG Performance

In recent years,China’s capital market has been increasingly open,and the "Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect" and "Shenzhen Hong Kong Stock Connect" trading systems have been implemented.The number and scale of institutional investors are increasing,and the shareholding ratio is also constantly increasing.In March 2022,the China Securities Regulatory Commission held a special meeting to emphasize the need to increase training for long-term institutional investors such as public funds,provide them with a good investment environment,encourage long-term investment and value investment,guide them to leverage their professional advantages,and promote their better practice of social responsibility.According to data released by the China Securities Investment Fund Association in January 2021,the total market value of listed company stocks held by institutional investors reached12.62 trillion yuan,accounting for approximately 18.44% of the total market value of stocks.It can be seen that institutional investors account for a high proportion in China’s securities market,and even hold an important position as the top ten shareholders in most enterprises,which has a great impact on the development of enterprises.Under the COVID-19,a series of problems such as ecological destruction,environmental degradation,resource tension,and social conflict have intensified,and institutional investors’ awareness of green and low-carbon development of enterprises has rapidly increased.The impact of the epidemic on China’s ESG has played a catalytic role,causing unprecedented attention to the ESG performance of enterprises.Under the promotion of the "dual carbon" goal,relevant laws and standards for enterprise ESG performance and information disclosure have been successively introduced.In 2021 and 2022,the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China successively issued the "Environmental Information Legal Disclosure System Reform Plan" and the "Enterprise Environmental Information Legal Disclosure Format Guidelines" to regulate enterprise ESG performance and information disclosure,promoting the construction and development of China’s ESG system.Institutional investors have begun to re-examine traditional growth models,supervise enterprises to carry out business activities based on the principle of being responsible for society and the environment,focus on improving the ESG performance of enterprises,and guide listed companies on the path of sustainable and healthy development.This article takes Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021 as a sample to explore the relationship between institutional investor shareholding and corporate ESG performance,and studies the mediating role of information transparency.It further analyzes whether there are differences in the impact of institutional investor shareholding ratios on corporate ESG performance under different ownership properties and types of institutional investors.Research has found that(1)institutional investor shareholding has a promoting effect on the ESG performance of enterprises.(2)Institutional investors’ shareholding can improve the information transparency of enterprises.(3)Corporate information transparency plays a partial mediating role in the improvement of ESG performance by institutional investors’ shareholding.(4)The shareholding of institutional investors has a more significant boosting effect on the ESG performance of state-owned enterprises than non-state-owned enterprises,and the intermediary effect of enterprise information transparency is more obvious.(5)Stable institutional investors are more prominent in improving the ESG performance of enterprises than transactional institutional investors,and the "bridge" role of enterprise information transparency still exists.Based on the research findings,this article proposes the following suggestions: the government should accelerate the top-level design of ESG,establish ESG information disclosure and regulatory standards,encourage institutional investors to increase their investment levels and strengthen their supervision,guide institutional investors to participate in corporate governance in a standardized manner,and play its role in promoting the improvement of ESG performance in enterprises.Enterprises should further introduce stable institutional investors,carry out long-term strategic cooperation,improve information transparency,deeply tap into the potential of ESG value creation,broaden the social benefits of ESG performance,and reshape their own resource system and competitive strength.