ESG and Corporate Performance: Evidence from Agriculture and Forestry Listed Companies

Agriculture and forestry are fundamental industries. With the development of the ESG concept, stakeholders are increasingly concerned about the relationship between ESG and agricultural and forestry corporate performance. This paper examines 156 listed agricultural and forestry companies to explore the impact of ESG on corporate performance, both theoretically and empirically, using two-stage least squares. Heterogeneity is explored from the perspective of three sub-dimensions of ESG and industry comparison, respectively. Finally, the impact mechanism of ESG is analyzed from three perspectives: government, market, and company. Results indicate that (1) ESG and corporate performance are significantly and positively correlated, and higher ESG ratings are beneficial to corporate performance improvement. (2) Compared with E performance, S and G performance are more conducive to promoting corporate performance growth. (3) There is no significant difference in the effect of ESG on corporate performance between listed companies in agriculture and forestry. (4) Tax incentives and the regional marketization degree have a negative moderating effect, but the proportion of female executives plays a positive moderating role. These findings provide useful insights for listed companies in agriculture and forestry to improve ESG performance and, consequently, corporate performance, and also promote listed companies to play a greater leading role in green development.