Study On The Influence Of Esg Information Disclosure On Corporate Debt Financing Cost

Financing is an important factor to guarantee the normal operation of enterprises.In the process of production and operation expansion,enterprises will not only obtain funds from internal surplus,but also obtain debt financing from external sources,and whether they can obtain financing continuously depends on the level of debt financing cost.The lower the cost of corporate debt financing,the greater the income,which can promote the sustainable and healthy development of enterprises.The level of financing cost depends on creditors’ evaluation of relevant information when making credit decisions.Creditors will not only make judgments based on the financial indicators of enterprises,but also pay more and more attention to non-financial information such as ESG information disclosure.As market competition intensifies,enterprises pay more attention to the disclosure of ESG information to gain the favor of investors and meet the needs of creditors.Therefore,it is worth discussing whether the disclosure of ESG information will have an impact on the debt financing cost of enterprises.This thesis selects the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies for regression analysis.Firstly,it verifies the impact of ESG information disclosure on corporate debt financing cost.Secondly,considering that environmental regulations,as exogenous factors,may enhance the sensitivity of corporate information disclosure and debt financing,and affect creditors’ assessment of corporate risks.In the context of introducing the external factors of environmental regulation,it explores whether the environmental regulation has a regulating effect between the two relations.The difference of the relationship between them is analyzed from two perspectives of property rights and industry heterogeneity.Finally,the possible transmission path between ESG and debt financing cost is identified from the participation degree of institutional investors.In addition,the reliability of the results was enhanced by alternative variable method,adjustment of research samples and Heckman two-stage robustness tests.Research shows that(1)enterprises can effectively reduce their debt financing costs through ESG information disclosure.(2)Environmental regulation plays a moderating role in the process of ESG information disclosure affecting corporate debt financing costs.By strengthening environmental regulation,the government can further strengthen the role of ESG information disclosure in reducing debt financing costs.(3)Through heterogeneity analysis,it is found that the reducing effect of ESG information disclosure on debt financing cost is more obvious in non-heavy polluting industries and state-owned enterprises,and the moderating effect of environmental regulations is more obvious in non-heavy polluting industries.When distinguishing property rights heterogeneity,environmental regulations have no moderating effect on the relationship between them.(4)In the further study,it is found that the degree of institutional investors’ participation plays a partial mediating effect in the relationship between ESG information disclosure and corporate debt financing cost,and the mediating effect of institutional investors’ participation is more significant in heavily polluting industries and state-owned enterprises.According to the above research results,this thesis puts forward specific suggestions from three perspectives: listed companies,regulators and creditors.