The Impact of Management Overconfidence and Corporate ESG Performance

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between management overconfidence, media attention and corporate ESG performance using data from all A-share non-financial listed companies in China between 2017 and 2023.The results of the study show that management overconfidence is significantly negatively correlated with corporate ESG performance, i.e., management overconfidence inhibits the enhancement of corporate ESG performance. Meanwhile, further analyses find that media attention plays a negative mediating role between management overconfidence and corporate ESG performance, and management overconfidence triggers more attention from the media, which in turn increases the corporate ESG performance by increasing the This may be due to the fact that large-scale enterprises are subject to more market attention and media scrutiny, which makes it easier for management overconfidence to be magnified and exposed, thus affecting ESG performance. This may be due to the fact that large-scale firms are subject to more market attention and media scrutiny, and management overconfidence is more likely to be magnified and exposed, thus having a more significant negative impact on ESG performance. This paper enriches the research literature on the relationship between management overconfidence and firms' ESG performanceoffering new insights into the role of media attention in corporate governance.It also provides policy insights for regulators and corporate managers to be cautious of the risks posed by management overconfidence and guide media attention to improve ESG performance.