论文标题
中国贸易冲击和美国公司的ESG表现
The China Trade Shock and the ESG Performances of US firms
论文作者
论文摘要
来自中国的进口竞争如何影响美国公司对ESG计划的参与？一方面，由于进口竞争和中国出口商的ESG绩效落后，降低了盈利能力，这可能会使美国公司为ESG倡议提供更多资源。另一方面，从劳动密集型生产到资本/技术密集型生产以及离岸外包的转变可能会改善美国公司的ESG绩效。此外，美国公司有激励措施积极追求更多的ESG参与度，以与中国进口销售。利用一项贸易政策，在该政策中，美国国会授予中国永久的正常贸易关系以及导致中国进口的预期关税率变化，我们发现来自中国的进口竞争会导致美国公司的ESG绩效提高。这些改进主要源于“做更多的积极因素”以及更多地参与环境计划。间接和直接证据表明，改进不是由生产过程或离岸外包的变化驱动，而是与产品差异一致的。我们的结果表明，来自中国的贸易冲击对美国公司的ESG业绩有重大影响。
How does import competition from China affect engagement on ESG initiatives by US corporates? On the one hand, reduced profitability due to import competition and lagging ESG performance of Chinese exporters can disincentivize US firms to put more resources to ESG initiatives. On the other hand, the shift from labor-intensive production to capital/technology-intensive production along with offshoring may improve the US company's ESG performance. Moreover, US companies have incentives to actively pursue more ESG engagement to differentiate from Chinese imports. Exploiting a trade policy in which US congress granted China the Permanent Normal Trade Relations and the resulting change in expected tariff rates on Chinese imports, we find that greater import competition from China leads to an increase in the US company's ESG performance. The improvement primarily stems from "doing more positives" and from more involvement on environmental initiatives. Indirect and direct evidence shows that the improvement is not driven by the change in production process or offshoring, but is consistent with product differentiation. Our results suggest that the trade shock from China has significant impact on the US company's ESG performance.
