A Study on the Impact of ESG Factors on the Financial Performance of Transportation Enterprises—Taking A-Share Listed Companies in Sub-Industry Classification as an Example

本文以2012~2023年我国A股交通运输业上市公司为样本，基于子行业分类探究ESG因素对企业财务绩效的影响。在指标选取上，采用总资产利润率(ROA)作为被解释变量衡量企业财务绩效，运用华证ESG综合评分全面反映企业ESG表现，通过构建双重固定效应模型实证分析发现ESG对交通运输企业财务绩效的影响存在子行业异质性。在道路运输业和铁路运输业中，ESG表现与ROA显著负相关，其他子行业中，ESG与ROA关系不显著。经稳健性检验，结果依然可靠。本研究填补了交通运输业ESG与财务绩效关系在子行业层面研究的空白，更为不同子行业企业制定差异化ESG策略、实现可持续发展提供了参考依据。This paper explores the impact of ESG factors on corporate financial performance based on subindustry classification with a sample of China’s A-share listed companies in the transportation industry from 2012 to 2023. In terms of indicator selection, the profitability of total assets (ROA) is used as an explanatory variable to measure corporate financial performance, and the CSI ESG composite score is used to comprehensively reflect the ESG performance of enterprises, and the empirical analysis through the construction of a double fixed-effect model reveals that there is sub-industry heterogeneity in the impact of ESG on the financial performance of transportation enterprises. ESG performance is significantly negatively correlated with ROA in the road transportation industry and the railroad transportation industry, and the relationship between ESG and ROA is not significant in other sub-industries. The results remain reliable after robustness tests. This study enriches the gap of research on the relationship between ESG and financial performance in the transportation industry at the subindustry level, and provides a reference basis for enterprises in different subsectors to formulate differentiated ESG strategies and achieve sustainable development.