The Impact of Green Bond Issuance on Corporate ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

As a rapidly developing financing tool in the green finance sector, green bonds have gained increasing attention and favor. The ESG rating is a comprehensive assessment of a company’s performance in non-financial aspects such as environment, social, and governance. This study analyzes data from select industries among Chinese A-share listed companies between the first quarter of 2010 and the fourth quarter of 2022, using a multi-timepoint difference-in-differences approach to examine the effects of issuing green bonds on corporate ESG scores. The findings indicate that green bond issuance significantly enhances a company’s ESG performance. To confirm the reliability of these findings, the study applies methods like parallel trend analysis, placebo tests, and propensity score matching, confirming the robustness of the results. These outcomes provide compelling evidence supporting the issuance of green bonds as a means to improve corporate ESG ratings.