The 44th Frontier Forum for Digital Technology and Finance

Abstract：

We study the classic tradeoff between ESG and (short-term) economic growth in the context of the 2008 ESG mandate for a subset of Chinese listed firms. While both event and non-event listed firms decreased pollution at the cost of reduced profits, private firms in event cities increased pollution after the mandate, especially in cities facing higher GDP pressure. Such an environmental “crowding-out” effect is explained by local officials’ promotional incentives which hinged on GDP rather than pollution. Private firms received less tickets after the mandate, and they also reduced investment both in pollution abatement capacities and green technologies.

Speaker Introduction：

Yongxiang Wang currently serves as Chair Professor of Finance at Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF), Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Previously, he held the position of Tenure-Track Associate Professor of Finance at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California. His primary research areas include empirical corporate finance, political economy, organizational economics, behavioral economics, and corporate strategy in China, with a focus on the Chinese economy and financial markets. He has published over 20 high-impact academic papers in top-tier journals spanning economics, finance, accounting, and management, such as the Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Management Science. His research findings have been extensively covered by leading economic, financial, and scientific media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, The Economist, The New York Times, and Science.