ESG Rating Uncertainty and the Cost of Debt Financing
以2011-2022年中国A股上市公司为样本，研究发现ESG评级不确定性会提高企业债务融资成本，信用风险和企业声誉是主要传导渠道，而内部控制、公众环境关注和金融集聚能缓解这一负面影响。
ABSTRACT Using A‐share listed companies in 2011–2022 as a research sample, this study manually calculates and constructs Environment, Social and Government (ESG) rating uncertainty at the level of Chinese listed companies and examines whether and how ESG rating uncertainty affects firms' cost of debt financing. The empirical results demonstrate that ESG rating uncertainty raises firms' debt financing costs. After a string of robustness tests, the results are still robust. Mechanism analysis identifies credit risk and corporate reputation as the primary channels driving this relationship. Furthermore, high levels of firm's internal control, region's public environmental concerns and the level of financial agglomeration are conducive to mitigating the adverse effects of ESG rating uncertainty. This article enriches the research on the impact of ESG rating uncertainty on microeconomic agents in emerging markets and provides new perspectives to alleviate corporate financing constraints.