本研究目的為探討ESG與企業財務表現(CFP)之關聯，採用資料包絡分析法(DEA)估計出的企業效率作為代表財務表現。其效率估計過程中考量公司投入與產出，因此建立出的企業效率較為全面且穩定。基於ESG與財務的關係可能並非線性，估計出企業效率後，進而應用無母數迴歸分析進行兩者間的關係探討，以期了解其關係是否存在特定趨勢。再者，挑出環境、社會以及公司治理三者的政策或作為，並與估計出的企業效率、ROA及公司市值以OLS迴歸進行驗證討論，目的為了解哪些公司的ESG作為會對公司財務表現有所影響。
本研究之流程針對幾項問題：許多相關議題的研究中，(1)財務表現的變數多以股價、市值等不同市場基礎變數作為代表，因此造成結論不一致，且變數較易受市場環境所影響。而DEA因為考慮了公司本業的投入與產出，因此估計出的財務表現較為全面且穩定；(2)多以線性模型驗證兩者關聯，許多文章之結論有著正反不一的看法，原因是CSR與CFP之間的關聯並不純粹只是完全正向或反向的二元關係。採用無母數迴歸優勢在於，其能以非線性的方式理解變數間關係，並以此了解變數之間變動的趨勢；(3)ESG政策及作為非常多，文章選出ESG政策並驗證與財務指標的關係，據此提供企業ESG政策發展方向。
研究結果顯示，ESG與企業效率在不同程度存在不同關係。將ESG分成四個區間並應用分段迴歸後發現，高程度的ESG揭露能夠與公司效率有正向關聯。而環境、社會與公司治理三個因子與公司效率各自存在一定關係。在ESG政策方面，建議環境政策能夠專注在對公司營運有直接影響的政策上，例如能減少公司成本的作為；社會政策的好處在於公司名聲，需要較長時間反應，因此無法有立即反應。公司治理則顯示董事會組成、股東政策以及CSR委員會在財務表現上有相對顯著的影響。

This research explores the relationship between ESG and corporate financial performance (CFP) indicated by corporate efficiency estimated by data envelopment analysis (DEA). DEA considers operation input and output and makes corporate efficiency a more comprehensive and stable financial indicator. Base on the assumption that the relations between ESG and CFP may not be linear, we applied nonparametric regression to verify the connections to see if a specific trend exists. Then, to identify which ESG-related actions or policy would impact CFP, 13 policies are picked to test in OLS regression with financial indicators like ROA, Tobin’s Q, and efficiency.
The results show that different relations exist at different ESG levels. ESG is divided into four levels, and piecewise regression is introduced. The relationship is significant and positive in high-level ESG disclosure, and three factors such as environment, social, and governance present different and specific relations, respectively. In terms of ESG actions and policies, the outcome advises firms should focus on the policies that could directly influence operation, like decreasing a firm’s cost. The benefits of social actions are brand name and reputation, which need a long time to show the impact; therefore, it cannot reflect effects on CFP immediately. From a governance policy perspective, board compositions, shareholder policies, and CSR committees are significantly related to CFP.

論文審定書..................................................................................................................... i
中文公開授權書............................................................................................................ ii
英文公開授權書........................................................................................................... iii
摘要............................................................................................................................... iv
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... v
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research purpose ............................................................................................. 2
1.3 Research process .............................................................................................. 4
2. Literature review ........................................................................................................ 6
2.1 ESG and corporate financial performance ....................................................... 6
2.2 ESG component and corporate financial performance .................................. 10
3. Data and methodology ............................................................................................. 14
3.1 Data envelopment analysis ............................................................................ 14
3.2 Regression model ........................................................................................... 20
3.3 Data ................................................................................................................ 24
4. Empirical research ................................................................................................... 27
4.1 Corporate efficiency....................................................................................... 27
4.2 ESG disclosure and corporate efficiency ....................................................... 28
4.3 ESG actions and corporate efficiency ............................................................ 32
4.3.1 Environmental actions ........................................................................ 33
4.3.2 Governance actions ............................................................................. 36
5. Conclusions and Suggestions ................................................................................... 39
5.1 Conclusions .................................................................................................... 39
5.2 Suggestions .................................................................................................... 41
References .................................................................................................................... 43
Appendix ...................................................................................................................... 47

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