The governance of non-state shareholders and corporate ESG: Empirical evidence from China

This study examines the relationship between non-state shareholder governance and the ESG performance of China's listed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from 2009 to 2020. Through empirical analysis, we find a U-shaped relationship between the proportion of non-state shareholder ownership and ESG performance, which remains consistent after conducting multiple robustness tests. When examined dimensionally, this U-shaped relationship is primarily evident in the Environment and Governance dimensions. Furthermore, this relationship is more pronounced in firms with low financing constraints. Under high financial constraints, the relationship between non-state shareholder governance and ESG performance manifests as a negative linear pattern.