摘要：在“双碳”目标、绿色金融等政策的引领下，我国ESG基金规模稳步增长，已成为驱动企业参与绿色治理的重要力量。本文以2012—2022年沪深A股上市公司为样本，采用公募基金公司签署联合国负责任投资原则事件构建多时点双重差分模型，研究了ESG公募基金对企业绿色治理绩效的影响。研究表明，ESG公募基金能够显著提高企业绿色治理绩效，这一作用在非国有企业、代理成本较低的企业和环境规制较弱的地区中更为明显；机制分析表明，ESG公募基金通过资源效应和监督效应，即提供资金与技术指导以及借助“用手投票”“用脚投票”促进企业绿色治理；此外，ESG公募基金在驱动企业绿色治理的同时，也提升了企业市场价值，并为投资者带来更高收益。本文的研究表明，加强ESG基金投资顶层设计、引导投资者践行ESG理念，对促进企业绿色低碳转型具有重要意义。
关键词：ESG公募基金；绿色治理；资源效应；监督效应
The Green Governance Effect of ESG Mutual Funds:Mechanisms and Empirical Evidence
Yu Xianrong, Hu Jie, Han Yiming
Abstract: Driven by policies such as the “dual carbon” goals and green finance, the scale of ESG funds in China has grown steadily, establishing them as a key force driving corporate participation in green governance. Using a sample of Chinese public listed firms from 2012 to 2022, and employing a multi-period difference in differences model based on the event of public mutual funds signing the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, this paper investigates the impact of ESG mutual funds on corporate green governance performance. The results show that ESG mutual funds significantly improve firms’ green governance performance, with stronger effects observed in non‑state‑owned enterprises, firms with lower agency costs, and regions with weaker environmental regulations. Mechanism analysis reveals that ESG mutual funds promote corporate green governance through resource effects and monitoring effects—namely, by providing capital and technical guidance and by “voting with their hands” and “voting with their feet”. Furthermore, ESG mutual funds not only drive corporate green governance but also enhance firm market value and generate higher returns for investors. Our findings suggest that strengthening the top‑level design of ESG fund investment and guiding investors to adopt ESG principles is of great significance for promoting the green and low‑carbon transition of firms.
Keywords: ESG Mutual Funds; Green Governance; Resource Effects; Supervision Effects
