How ESG Transparency Enhances Market Valuation: Examining Governance Quality in Emerging Market

Abstract

Purpose: The study investigates the effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance report on market performance and also examines the moderating effect of corporate governance quality in this relationship.

Methods/Study design/Approach: The analysis used panel data from 2018 to 2023, covering nonfinancial firms that registered in the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and OTC market. Using 13,119 firm-year observations, we employ fixed-effects regressions with firm and year effects model

Result/Findings: Higher ESG disclosure is associated with stronger market valuation. Corporate governance quality significantly enhances this effect, indicating that credible governance improves the value relevance of ESG information. When the ESG components are entered separately, the social pillar shows the strongest association with market value. Robustness checks that exclude the COVID-19 years confirm the stability of these results.

Novelty/Originality/Value: The paper enhances the existing ESG literature by emphasizing the significance of corporate governance quality in optimizing the advantages of ESG disclosure. This paper also comparing the three ESG pillars within one framework. The Taiwanese evidence offers policy-relevant insights for ASEAN markets seeking to improve ESG disclosure and corporate governance to reinforce investor trust.