(The) effects of large institutional ownership and outside directors on corporate social performance : the moderating role of owner-CEO power

유강려 서울대학교 대학원 2013 국내석사

Firms’ corporate social performance has gained enormous attention from corporate governance scholars. However, empirical researches have shown a lot of contradictory results. This paper analyses the impact of large institutional ownership and outside directors on firms’ CSP along with the moderating effect of the owner-CEO power in terms of ownership. The study attempts to explore the effects of large institutional ownership on CSP by arguing that the large extent of shareholdings indicates the abilities and incentives of institutional investors to encourage firms to invest more in CSP commitments. In addition, the role of outside directors on firms’ CSP is also examined by integrating agency theory and dependency theory. As the monitor of shareholders and resources provider, outside directors encourage firm to invest more in CSP. I also proposed that the influence of both governance mechanisms will be mitigate by a powerful CEO. The hypotheses are tested using a sample which consists of 194 firms in Korea. The empirical results indicated that the first two direct effects of institutional ownership and outside directors are supported. Furthermore, the results also indicated the effects of CEO power on the relationship of outside directors and firms’ CSP.

금융회사 대주주 규제의 문제점 및 개선 방향 (금융 관련 법령상 대주주 소유규제·적격성규제·이해상충규제를 중심으로)

김미향 연세대학교 일반대학원 2025 국내박사

대주주(大株主)는 개별 법령의 규제 목적에 따라 지칭하는 용어나 범위가 다르지만, 일반적으로 회사의 상당한 지분을 보유함으로써 해당 회사를 실질적으로 소유하거나 지배하는 주주를 의미한다. 대주주가 보유하는 주주권은 오래전부터 중요한 재산권의 일부로 인식되어왔으며, 우리나라에서도 헌법상 권리로서 보호되고 있다. 그러나 우리나라를 포함한 다수 국가에서는 공공복리 등의 이유로 대주주의 주식 보유 및 권리행사에 대해 법률적 제한을 두고 있으며, 특히 금융회사의 특수성과 사회적 파급력을 고려하여 금융회사 대주주에 대해서는 보다 엄격한 규제를 적용하고 있다. 이는 금융회사 대주주 규제를 통해 금융회사의 경영 안정성을 확보함으로써 금융소비자 및 국가 경제를 보호하고, 금융 산업 및 국가 경제의 발전을 도모하고자 하는 것이다. 이러한 두 가지 규제 목적은 외견상 안정(stability)과 발전(progress)이라는 상반된 가치처럼 보일 수 있으나, 건전한 경영을 통한 내실 있는 성장이 결국은 금융업 발전에 기여할 수 있다는 점에서 양자는 궁극적으로 동일한 지향점을 가진다고 할 수 있다. 은행법, 보험업법, 자본시장법 등 금융 관련 법령에서는 ① 소유규제, ② 적격성규제, ③ 이해상충규제로 구분되는 금융회사 대주주 규제 조항들을 두고 있는데, 세 가지 유형의 규제 중 어느 하나만으로는 금융회사 대주주 규제의 두 가지 규제 목적을 조화롭게 달성하기 어렵다. 특히 최근에는 IT기술의 발달로 비대면 금융서비스의 수요가 증가함에 따라 은행 대주주에 대한 소유규제 완화의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 그러나 금융 산업의 성장과 발전을 위해 소유규제를 완화하는 경우, 금융회사의 경영 안정성이라는 또 다른 규제 목적이 훼손될 우려가 존재한다. 소유규제로부터 비교적 자유로운 비은행 금융회사 또한 최근 산업자본의 투자 확대에 따라 동일한 문제에 직면해 있다. 따라서 소유규제 변화로 인한 금융회사의 사금고화나 이해상충 등의 부작용을 최소화하기 위해서는 적격성규제 및 이해상충규제의 병행적 개선이 요구된다. 이에 본 논문은 급변하는 금융환경 속에서 금융회사 대주주 규제의 효과적인 목적 달성을 위하여, 세 가지 개별 규제가 수행할 수 있는 역할과 그 개선 방안을 다음과 같이 제시하고자 한다. 첫째, 소유규제 측면에서는 IT산업의 성장 등 금융환경 변화에 대응하여 은행법상 비금융주력자의 주식 보유 한도 완화의 필요성과 적정 보유 한도를 검토하고, PEF를 포함한 현행 비금융주력자 판단 기준의 보완 방향을 제시하였다. 아울러 공정거래법상 일반지주회사의 금융회사 주식 소유규제 완화방안을 단계적으로 검토하였다. 둘째, 적격성규제는 소유규제 완화에 따른 경영 안정성 저하 가능성을 최소화하기 위하여 실질적 영향력 행사자를 적격성 심사 대상에 포함하고, 유지심사 적용 범위를 현실에 맞게 확대할 것을 제안하였다. 아울러 적격성 판단 방식을 자동 결격 방식에서 종합적 판단 방식으로 전환하고, 제도의 실효성을 높이기 위해 지배구조법상 주요 유지 요건 미충족 시 주식처분명령 제도 도입의 필요성을 주장하였다. 셋째, 이해상충규제 측면에서는 적격성 요건을 충족한 대주주라 하더라도 금융회사에 대한 부당한 영향력 행사를 차단하여 건전성을 확보할 수 있도록,현행 법령상 대주주 신용공여 제한, 대주주 발행 증권 등의 취득 제한, 대주주와의 불리한 거래 제한 등에 존재하는 사각지대를 보완하고 규제의 실효성을 높이기 위한 구체적 개선 방안을 제안하였다. 본 논문에서 제시한 소유규제, 적격성규제, 이해상충규제의 각 역할과 개선 방안을 통해 금융회사의 경영 안정성 확보와 금융산업의 발전이라는 금융회사 대주주 규제의 두 가지 목적이 균형 있게 달성될 수 있기를 바란다. The definition of a large shareholder in financial institutions varies depending on the regulatory purposes of specific laws. However, it generally refers to a shareholder who owns a significant portion of the company’s shares and controls the company. Shareholder rights have long been recognized as an essential component of property rights and are constitutionally protected in Korea. However, in many countries, legal restrictions are imposed on the stock ownership and the exercise of rights by large shareholders for reasons such as public welfare. In particular, stricter regulations are applied to large shareholders of financial institutions due to their unique characteristics and social impact. The primary goals of regulating large shareholders in financial institutions are to ensure the stability of financial company management and ultimately to promote the development of the financial industry and the national economy. To achieve these goals, financial-related laws stipulate regulatory provisions for large shareholders of financial institutions, categorized into: (1) ownership regulations, (2) fit and proper regulations, and (3) regulations of conflicts of interest . However, none of these three types of individual regulations alone can harmoniously achieve the dual regulatory objectives of ensuring the management stability of financial institutions and fostering the development of the financial industry. In particular, with the recent development of IT technology, the demand for non-face-to-face financial services has increased. Accordingly, demands to relax ownership regulations are also increasing. However, if ownership regulations are eased, there is a possibility that the regulatory purpose of securing management stability of financial companies may be damaged. Therefore, in order to minimize side effects such as conflicts of interest that may be caused by the relaxation of ownership regulations, measures to tighten fit and proper regulations and conflicts of interest regulations should also be found. In other words, the three regulations need to play a complementary role in the large framework of regulation of large shareholders of financial institutions. Despite this need, existing research on the regulation of large shareholders in financial institutions has primarily focused on ownership regulations, particularly in the context of the separation of finance and commerce. Comprehensive studies including fit and proper regulations and conflicts of interest regulations have been relatively rare. Therefore, this paper proposed methods for improving the above three regulations to achieve the purpose of regulating large shareholders in the rapidly changing financial environment. First, regarding ownership regulations, the study examines the necessity of relaxing the shareholding limits for non-financial investors under the Banking Act and explores appropriate shareholding limit. It also suggests introducing greater flexibility into the current criteria for determining non-financial investors, including private equity funds (PEFs). Additionally, the paper reviews potential measures for easing ownership restrictions on non-banking financial companies held by general holding companies under the Fair Trade Act. Second, concerning fit and proper regulations, this paper highlights the need to strengthen fit and proper test to supplement management stability issues arising from the relaxation of ownership regulations. To this end, it was proposed to include individuals who exert substantial influence in the scope of the fit and proper test. The eligibility criteria should be restructured to shift focus from automatic disqualifications to a more comprehensive consideration of diverse factors. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes the necessity of introducing a stock disposal order system under the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies to strengthen the efficiency of regulatory enforcement. Third, regarding regulations of conflicts of interest, this study explores measures to strengthen the soundness of financial institutions by preventing large shareholders from exercising undue influence. Specifically, it proposes several methods to supplement regulatory blind spots regarding restrictions on credit granting to large shareholders, limitations on the acquisition of securities, and prohibitions on disadvantageous transactions with large shareholders. I hope that the proposed improvement measures for the regulations on large shareholders of financial institutions presented in this paper will contribute to the balanced achievement of the two regulatory objectives: securing management stability of financial institutions and developing the financial industry.

(The) Incompatibility between Institutional Investors and Family Firms for Corporate Social Responsibility

이은주 서울대학교 대학원 2019 국내석사

There is much debate about the influence of ownership structure on corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper examines how the level of institutional ownership influences CSR performance. Empirical results indicate that a high level of institutional ownership is positively associated with CSR performance. Next, drawing from the fact that family shareholders are driven more by self-interest rather than socioemotional wealth, I predict that the positive relationship between institutional investors and CSR performance will be moderated negatively by family ownership. Especially, in case where the ownership equity is more concentrated in the hands of few large shareholder or founding families such as Korea, family shareholders are often considered to be passive in pursuing CSR performance. I test my hypotheses using KEJI index with a sample of 488 Korean firms for the years 2014 – 2018 and find general support for my hypotheses. This paper extends CSR studies by utilizing data on Korean firms and highlights the moderating role of Korean family firms in the link between institutional ownership and CSR performance. 기업의 사회적 책임 활동에 있어 기업 소유구조가 가지는 영향력에 관한 많은 논란이 있었다. 본 논문은 기업 소유구조에서 기관 투자자 비율이 기업의 사회적 책임 활동에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지에 대해 알아보았다. 실증적 검증 결과, 높은 기관투자자 소유 비율은 기업의 사회적 책임 활동에 대해 긍정적으로 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 나아가 가족 구성원 주주들은 사회정서적 부를 추구하기보다는 개인의 부를 축적하는 것에 더 집중한다는 사실에 의존하여, 저자는 가족 기업의 가족 구성원 주주들의 소유 비율은 기관 투자자와 기업의 사회적 책임 활동 간의 긍정적 관계에 부정적인 조절 효과를 가질 것이라고 예측하였다. 특히 한국과 같이 소유 지분이 소수의 주주나 가족 구성원에게 많이 집중되어 있는 나라에서 가족 구성원 주주들은 기업의 사회적 책임 활동에 대해 소극적이다. 저자는 KEJI Index를 이용하여 2014년부터 2018년까지의 488개의 한국 기업을 대상으로 가설을 시험하였으며, 주장된 가설들은 모두 지지되었다. 본 연구는 한국 가족 기업의 데이터를 활용하여 기업의 사회적 책임 활동에 관한 기존 연구를 확장하였으며, 나아가 기관투자자와 기업의 사회적 책임 활동간 상관관계에 미치는 조절 변수로서 가족 기업의 영향력을 강조하였다.

Essays in Environmental, Social, and Governance Performances in Finance

Arthur, Joseph The University of Iowa ProQuest Dissertations & Th 2023 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

This thesis explores three important topics in corporate finance: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, institutional ownership, and bank behavior. In the first chapter, we examine the impact of ESG performance of financial companies on investor behavior via their holdings and whether financial companies respond to their own ESG performances. In the second chapter, I investigate the role of social performance on bank behavior in the face of social unrest. In the third chapter, I study the value relevance of the cost of environmental damage on firms and investors.In Chapter 1 titled “The Informational Content of Financial Companies’ ESG Performance: Evidence from Ownership and Investments” , we provide evidence that ESG performances of financial companies are informative and that these performances have real and significant economic impact. First, investor holdings increase with ESG performance of financial companies. The investor decision is not driven by familiarity bias. Instead, the ESG performance of financial companies contains value-relevant information that is unlocked by institutional investors. Lastly, these performances impact investment decisions of financial companies.In Chapter 2 captioned “Bank Socialness: it matters when it counts”, I explore the role of social performance on bank behavior during social uncertainty shocks. In the last decade, social unrest has increased significantly on the global scale as well as in the USA. The literature has documented a negative economic impact of social unrest: in respect of lower GDP and stock valuations. In this paper, I extend the literature by focusing on the impact of social unrest on credit supply in the US. I document a negative relationship between social unrest and growth in business loans and especially, commercial & industrial loans (even for small businesses). More importantly, the socialness of banks appears to moderate the negative impact as banks with high social scores grow their commercial loan supply more than their peers with low social scores. I further find that some borrower characteristics and lending conditions play similar mitigating roles.In Chapter 3 titled “Value Relevance of Cost of Environmental damage”, I assess whether environmental (carbon) damage costs affect firm value and firm ownership. Using proprietary environmental damage costs data on US firms from Trucost, I find that firm value is negatively associated with environmental (carbon) damage costs with additional tests suggesting the association is causal. Institutional investors increase their relative holdings following shocks that reveal financial benefits to internalization or reduction of these costs. Overall, my results confirm the macroeconomic view that environmental damage costs should be reflected in investor and market analyses of firms’ operations.

(The) interrelationship between product diversification and international diversification : the impact of internal and external environment

김선주 Graduate School, Yonsei University 2016 국내박사

기존 전략경영 분야의 연구들은 상품다각화와 지리적 다각화를 독립적으로 판단하여, 이들의 상호관계에 대한 고민이 부족하였다. 소수의 사전 연구들이 이들의 관계를 밝히고자 노력하였으나, 고정된 관계를 밝혀내지는 못하였다. 본 연구는 기업이 처한 내/외부 환경적 상황에 따라서 다각화 의사결정은 상호의존적이기도, 상호독립적일 수도 있을 것이다. 이 맥락의 연구의 시작으로써 본 연구는 과연 환경적 상황에 따라서 상품/지리적 다각화의 상호관계가 변화하는지 검증하고자 한다. 환경적 변수로는 내부적 변수(진입모드, 다각화 경험, 보유 자원의 불가분성)와 외부적 변수(산업의 글로벌화, 내수시장의 경쟁정도, 기관투자자)가 사용되었다. Recent scholars concerned extent of growth along product and international diversification decisions are likely to be pursue simultaneously and endogenously rather than separately because both form of growth build on firm’s existing resources which is limited (Kumar, 2009). While many studies seek to explain whether the relationship between product diversification and international diversification is complementary or substitutive, there is no set answer. The relationship between product and international diversification may not identical for all firms and have specified conditions to determine endogenous relations. Thus we expect that there are some environmental variables to moderate the relationship between product and international diversification. We suggest internal factors such as mode of entry, diversification experience, resource fungibility as well as external variables like industry globalization, degree of domestic competition, and institutional ownership. These variables could give some instructions to set clear conclusions to diversification research.

(A) Study of institutional ownership and dividends in the Shenzhen stock exchange

Li, Meilin Sungkyunkwan University 2023 국내석사

I investigate the relationship between institutional ownership and dividends among Chinese listed companies on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Following previous research, I classify institutional investors into two types: (1) pressure-resistant institutions, such as mutual funds, public pension funds and qualified foreign institutional investors and (2) pressure-sensitive institutions, such as securities companies, insurance companies, trusts, finance companies and banks. I hypothesize that only pressure-resistant institutions moderate agency problems by facilitating dividends and that monitoring is more intense when firms have high agency costs. First, logit regressions suggest that pressure-resistant institutional ownership has a significant positive effect on dividend payments, whereas pressure-sensitive institutional ownership does not. Second, Tobit regressions suggest that pressure-resistant institutional ownership has a significant positive effect on the amounts of dividends only when agency costs are high (as indicated by poor information disclosure ratings), whereas pressure-sensitive institutional ownership does not. My results are robust to the use of first-difference regressions and an alternative proxy for agency costs. 본 논문은 선전증권거래소의 중국 상장회사의 기관 소유권과 배당금 간의 관계를 연구하였다. 이전의 연구에 근거하여 본 논문은 기관투자자를 두가지 유형으로 나누었다: (1) 압력저항기관, 예를 들어 뮤추얼 펀드, 공공연금기금과 적격외국기관투자가, (2) 압력민감기관, 예를 들어 증권회사, 보험회사, 신탁, 금융회사와 은행. 저는 압력저항기관만이 배당을 촉진하여 대리문제를 완화시킬 수 있으며 회사의 대리 비용이 높을 때 그 감독 역할이 더욱 강해질 것이라고 가정하였다. 첫째, 로짓 회귀결과는 압력저항기관의 소유권이 배당금분배 경향에 통계적으로 긍정적인 영향을 준 것을 보여주었고 압력민감기관의 소유권은 영향을 미치지 못하는 것을 보여주었다. 두 번째, 토빗 회귀결과는 대리비용이 높을 때 (정보공개등급이 낮은 경우) 압력저항기관의 소유권만이 배당금액에 통계적으로 긍정적인 영향을 준 것을 보여주었고 압력민감기관의 소유권은 영향을 미치지 못하는 것을 보여주었다. 저의 실증결과는 일차 차등 회귀를 사용한후 및 대체 대리비용의 프록시를 사용한 후에도 강건하였다.

Corporate ownership and firm performance

Gong, Wenting Sungkyunkwan University 2020 국내석사

While extant literature shows that institutional investors playing an increasingly important role in improving corporate performance, the emprical evidence has provided mixed results. Using F score as a tool to measure firm performance, this paper attempts to find out the relationship between state, domestic and foreign institutional ownership and firm performance. There is a positive correlation between domestic institutional investors and company performance. Besides, domestic institutional investors exert a positive impact on the improvement of corporate performance, while both foreign investors are positively correlated with corporate performance, though the performance improvement is not obvious; state institutional investors also have a positive impact on firm performance.

How do institutional investors interact with sell-side analysts?

강일주 Graduate School Korea University 2015 국내박사

This paper examines how institutional investors interact with sell-side analysts in Korean stock market. I focus on the role of institutional investors as sophisticated stock market participants who may analyze sell-side analysts’ information components as earnings forecast in addition to using their outputs as recommendation, target price. Furthermore, I examine whether institutional investors can differentiate between good information and bad information provided by sell-side analysts. By using a sample of 1,421 firm/year observations in Korean stock market from 2001 to 2011, the results indicate that institutional investors may take an active role as a mechanism to incorporate V/P ratios (value to price) derived from earnings forecast information to analyze sell-side analysts’ information components, in addition to using the outputs as recommendation. Moreover, I find that institutional investors are more likely to use sell-side analysts’ information when the earnings forecast is more accurate, meaning that institutional investors can differentiate between good information and bad information. On the other way round, I examine if institutional investors’ trading behavior affects sell-side analysts’ information, and find that sell-side analysts do not use information produced from buy-side investors’ trading behavior. In sum, I can conclude that the main results support the causality relationship that institutional investors trade by looking at the sell-side analysts’ information components as earnings forecast in detail, and by using their information only when the earnings forecast information is more accurate, not the other way round. This study can shed some lights on the knowledge about the unobserved interaction between the most sophisticated stock market participants who are considered to have taken a role to enhance stock market efficiency, and extends the prior literature which factors bring about institutional investors’ sophistication.

기업의 소유구조가 하방경직적 경영자 보상에 미치는 영향

백경민 중앙대학교 대학원 2024 국내석사

본 연구는 기관투자자 지분율, 외국인 투자자 지분율, 소액주주 지분율이 경영자 보상의 하방경직적 경영자 보상에 미치는 영향을 분석했다. 분석에 사용된 표본은 2011년부터 2018년까지 국내의 코스피와 코스닥 시장에 상장된 제조업 기업을 대상으로 10138(기업-년도)을 사용했다. 본 연구의 분석 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 경영자 보상은 경영 성과에 따라 하방경직성을 나타내고 있었다. 이는 경영자가 자신의 이익을 위해 경영 성과가 부진하거나 감소한 경우, 자신의 손실을 최소화하기 위한 목적을 두고 있음을 시사한다. 둘째, 기관투자자 지분율은 경영자 보상의 하방경직성을 완화하는 결과를 보여줬다. 이는 기관투자자 지분율이 높을수록 좋은 기업지배구조를 가진 기업이라 해석할 수 있으면 기관투자자가 기업의 외부 감시 주체의 임무를 수행하고 있음을 보여준다. 셋째, 외국인 투자자 지분율은 경영자 보상의 하방경직성을 강화하는 결과를 보여줬다. 이는 외국인 투자자는 감시 및 감독 기능을 제대로 수행하지 못하고 기업의 성장성에 부정적인 영향을 미친다고 설명할 수 있다. 넷째, 소액주주 지분율은 경영자 보상의 하방경직성을 완화하는 결과를 보여줬다. 이는 소액주주 역시 기관이나 외국인과 같은 다른 투자자 집단과 마찬가지로 영향력이 있다는 점과 추가로 외부 감시 주체의 임무를 수행하고 있음을 보여준다. 이러한 결과를 통해 경영자 보상의 하방경직성의 존재함을 증명하고 국내 기업의 대다수를 차지하는 대표적인 투자자 집단이 경영자 보상의 하방경직성에 미치는 영향을 재무 자료를 이용한 실증 연구로 증명했다. 특히 소액주주 지분이 경영자 보상의 하방경직성에 유의한 영향을 미쳤다는 것을 알아냄으로써 소액주주도 경영자가 관심을 가져야 할 투자자 집단이라는 것을 시사하고 소액주주 역시 과거와 달리 다른 투자자 집단과 같이 정보 및 지식의 수집과 해석 능력을 향상했다는 시사점을 제공한다. 하지만, 지분율의 기준을 다르게 하여 정의를 다시 잡으면 본 연구와 다른 결과가 나올 수 있다는 점과 각 투자자 집단의 투자 목적에 따른 단기 및 장기 투자의 이유를 경영자 보상의 하방경직성만으로 설명하기에는 부족함이 있다고 판단된다. 그렇기에 본 연구 결과를 바탕으로 추가적인 실증연구가 필요하다. Based on the agency theory, executive compensation is used to align the interests of managers and shareholders. This has the advantage of reducing the agent problem, but there are also consequences that may not be the case. Therefore, this study examines the effect of institutional ownership, foreign ownership, and minority interest percentage on executive compensation stickiness. The sample used for the analysis use 10138 (company-year) for manufacturing companies listed on the domestic KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets from 2011 to 2018. As a result of the analysis the first, executive compensation showed stickiness according to management performance. This suggests that executives aim to minimize their losses when management performance is inactive or decreased for their own benefit. Second, the institutional ownership showed the result of alleviation the executive compensation stickiness. This shows that the higher the institutional ownership, the better the corporate governance the more institutional ownership is performing the duties of the external monitoring entity of the company. Third, the foreign ownership showed the result of strengthening the the executive compensation stickiness. This can be explained that foreign ownership do not properly perform the monitoring and supervision functions and negatively affect the growth of the company. Fourth, the minority interest percentage showed the result of alleviation the executive compensation stickiness. This shows that minority interest percentage is as influential as other investor groups such as institution and foreigner, and that they are additionally performing the duties of external monitoring entities. These results proved the existence of executive compensation stickiness and proved the impact of a representative group of investors, which accounts for the majority of domestic companies, on the the stickiness of executive compensation through empirical research using financial data. In particular, finding that the minority interest percentage had a significant impact on the executive compensation stickiness suggests that the minority interest percentage are also a group of investors that managers should be interested in, and that minority interest percentage, unlike in the past, have improved their ability to collect and interpret information and knowledge like other investor groups. However, it is judged that it is insufficient to explain the reasons for short-term and long-term investment according to the purpose of each investor group's investment, and the executive compensation stickiness alone, based on the results of this study. Therefore, additional empirical research is needed based on the results of this study.

Study on the Effect of ESG Performance on the Financial Performance of Listed Enterprises in China

QIAO YINGFANG 가천대학교 일반대학원 2023 국내박사

In recent years, the concept of sustainable development has gradually gained popularity and Chinese companies' performance in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) has received widespread attention from all sectors of society. ESG is a stakeholder-based approach that emphasizes that companies should not develop their economy at the expense of the environment, but should take the initiative to assume social responsibility and protect the interests of their stakeholders. However, some Chinese companies are still reluctant to fulfill their ESG-related responsibilities because they believe it will increase their costs and thus affect their financial performance. In order to clarify the effect of ESG performance on corporate financial performance and to provide some reference for investors, company management, and other stakeholders of Chinese companies. In this paper, the financial performance data of Chinese A-share listed companies in the CSMAR database is used as the dependent variable and the Bloomberg ESG score data is used to measure ESG performance. Specifically, corporate ESG scores are used as the independent variable, and the corresponding corporate financial performance is the dependent variable. A regression model is used to investigate not only the impact of ESG performance on corporate financial performance but also the moderating effects of the nature of ownership, institutional investors' shareholding, government subsidies, and audit quality on the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance. The results of the study show that ESG performance all have a positive impact on corporate financial performance. The nature of ownership moderates the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance. The positive correlation between ESG performance and corporate financial performance is stronger in non-state enterprises. Institutional investors' shareholding positively moderates the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance. Government subsidies negatively moderate the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance. Audit quality does not positively moderate the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance. Therefore, Chinese listed companies should raise their ESG awareness and take note of the moderating effects of the nature of ownership, institutional investors' shareholding, government subsidies and audit quality on the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance. And actively engage in ESG responsibility, which will have a positive impact not only on the companies themselves but also on the development of the Chinese economy.