Executive Team Stability And Corporate ESG Performance

In recent years,China’s economy has shifted from a stage of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development.As the micro main body of economic development,enterprises’ sustainable development is not only related to the high-quality development of enterprises,but also to the high-quality development of China’s economy as a whole.As a current research hotspot,ESG performance meets the requirements of high-quality development and provides a quantifiable measure for the sustainable development of enterprises.However,in the face of a challenging economic environment,as decision makers of enterprises,collective resignation events among senior management teams are common,which has brought adverse effects on the development of enterprises.Based on this,the thesis studies the relationship and mechanism of the impact of executive team stability on ESG performance.Firstly,the thesis reviews the relevant research literature on the stability of senior management teams,as well as the relevant literature on factors affecting ESG performance.Then,based on the high echelon theory,principal-agent theory,specialized human capital theory,and stakeholder theory,a theoretical analysis framework for the relationship between the stability of senior management teams and ESG performance is proposed.Then,using multiple linear regression method,the thesis selects Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021 as research samples to empirically test the relationship and mechanism between the stability of senior management teams and corporate ESG performance.The study found that executive team stability has a significant positive impact on ESG performance;Internal control quality and equity incentives have a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between top management team stability and ESG performance;The stability of the senior management team can improve the ESG performance of the enterprise by suppressing rent-seeking behavior of the management,and the anti-corruption and integrity policies can promote the inhibitory effect of the stability of the senior management team on rent-seeking behavior of the management.Finally,based on the conclusions of the study,the thesis puts forward suggestions such as maintaining a relatively stable senior management team,establishing a high-quality internal and external supervision system,and improving the ESG related institutional environment.By studying the relationship and mechanism between executive team stability and corporate ESG performance,this thesis explores the impact of executive team stability on ESG performance from a comprehensive perspective,and extends research on executive team stability from market behaviors such as business performance to non market behaviors such as environmental protection and social responsibility,enriching research on the economic consequences of executive team stability and factors affecting corporate ESG performance.In addition,the thesis provides empirical evidence for the government to improve the ESG related institutional environment and for enterprises to improve ESG performance.