The impact of gambling culture on corporate ESG performance: From the perspective of ESG rating disagreement

Promoting corporate green transformation is crucial for the sustainable development of society. Using data from A-share listed corporates from 2009 to 2023, this study investigates whether and how gambling culture affects corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. By performing baseline regression, we find that firms located in regions with stronger gambling culture have better ESG performance. Moderation analysis indicates that ESG rating disagreement weakens the positive relationship between gambling culture and corporate ESG performance. The findings remain valid after various robustness tests. Channel analysis reveals that gambling culture can enhance corporate ESG performance by reducing strategic differentiation and increasing management shareholding ratio. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the positive effect of gambling culture on corporate ESG performance is more pronounced among central and western, asset-intensive and non-labor-intensive enterprises. This study incorporates gambling culture as an informal institution into the analytical framework of factors influencing corporate ESG performance, thereby enriching research on the economic consequences associated with gambling culture.