On June 5, 2025, at 10:00 am, the 44th Forum on Digital Technology and Economic Finance Frontiers was successfully held. The theme of the lecture was "Between a rock and a hard place: How Chinese local governments balance ESG mandate and economic growth incentives", and the guest speaker was Professor Yongxiang Wang from Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF), Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The lecture was chaired by Jing Shi, Professor of the Finance School and the Innovation and Chief Expert of Talent Base for Digital Technology and Finance. Professor Minggui Yu, Co-Director of the Base and Dean of the School of Finance, researchers from the Base, and over 30 teachers and students from the School of Finance participated in this lecture.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Jing Shi briefly introduced relevant information of Professor Yongxiang Wang to the participants and expressed his sincere gratitude for his availability to give a lecture at our college despite his busy schedule.

During the lecture, Professor Yongxiang Wang, against the background of the 2008 ESG mandate targeting some Chinese listed companies, analyzed the classic trade-off between ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) goals and short-term economic growth. He pointed out that both listed companies affected by the ESG mandate and those unaffected reduced pollution emissions at the cost of sacrificing profits. Notably, however, private enterprises in the event cities experienced an increase in pollution after the mandate was implemented—a phenomenon particularly prominent in cities facing higher GDP growth pressure.

He further explained that the root cause of this environmental "crowding out" effect lies in the fact that the promotion incentives for local officials are still primarily linked to GDP indicators rather than pollution control performance. Additionally, the study observed that private enterprises received fewer environmental protection fines after the ESG mandate, while their investments in pollution control capacity building and green technology R&D also decreased.

Finally, the participants engaged in active academic exchanges with Professor Yongxiang Wang, discussing the lecture topic together. Professor Wang provided detailed answers to the questions and concerns raised by the teachers and students. Professor Jing Shi expressed gratitude for Professor Yongxiang Wang's presentation. With this, the current session of the forum came to a successful conclusion.

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.

Frontier Forum for Digital Technology and Finance introduction

Recent years have witnessed a dramatic acceleration in a digital revolution in economic sectors and a rapid adoption of the new generation of information technologies, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, etc. These technologies effectively set off the digital economy. It has become a key driving force in creating global economic growth, improving the modernization level of governance capabilities, and promoting high-quality economic development in China. In particular, digital finance is the most important part of the digital economy. To explore the development direction of the cross-integration of digital technology and finance, the Innovation and Talent Base for Digital Technology and Finance is hosting the “Frontier Forum for Digital Technology and Finance”, in collaboration with the School of Finance, Wenlan School of Business, Economics School, School of Information and Safety Engineering, School of Statistics and Mathematics, School of Public Finance and Taxation of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL). This lecture series will invite the well-known scholars at home and abroad in digital technology, digital economy, digital finance, and other related fields as guest speakers, providing an open and cutting-edge academic exchange platform for interdisciplinary research on digital technology and finance.