Proceedings of the 2026 6th International Conference on Enterprise Management and Economic Development (ICEMED 2026)

2026 6th International Conference on Enterprise Management and Economic Development (ICEMED 2026)

📍Beijing, China🗓️ 24-26 April 2026
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ESG Practices and Firm Productivity in the Belt and Road Initiative Evidence of a Short-Term Trade-off and the Moderating Roles of Cost of Debt and Overseas Revenue

Authors
Jiayue Yang1, *
1School of Russian and Eurasian Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, 200083, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 18817698459@163.com
Corresponding Author
Jiayue Yang
Available Online 9 July 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-719-4_43How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Belt and Road Firms; ESG Performance; Total Factor Productivity; Cost of Debt; Proportion of Overseas Revenue
Abstract

This paper uses A‑share listed firms in China’s Belt and Road sector for 2008-2024 as the sample, applies the widely used Levinsohn-Petrin (LP) method to estimate firms’ Total Factor Productivity (TFP), and empirically examines the potential effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance on TFP and its underlying mechanisms. The results indicate that ESG performance among firms along the Belt and Road exerts a statistically significant negative effect on TFP, consistent with the compliance cost hypothesis. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this negative effect is concentrated in non-heavy‑polluting industries. Moderation tests reveal that higher cost of debt and overseas market expansion could mitigate the adverse impact of ESG on TFP. The paper thereby uncovers efficiency losses and external constraints faced by Belt and Road firms during the initial stages of green transformation, providing valuable microlevel evidence relevant to the design of green finance policies and to guiding firms’ high‑quality internationalization.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2026 6th International Conference on Enterprise Management and Economic Development (ICEMED 2026)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
9 July 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-719-4
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-719-4_43How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Jiayue Yang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/09
TI  - ESG Practices and Firm Productivity in the Belt and Road Initiative Evidence of a Short-Term Trade-off and the Moderating Roles of Cost of Debt and Overseas Revenue
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 6th International Conference on Enterprise Management and Economic Development (ICEMED 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 376
EP  - 386
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-719-4_43
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-719-4_43
ID  - Yang2026
ER  -