Abstract:
In an institutional environment characterized by rapid advancement of ESG systems and diversification of information sources, ESG news coverage, with its high-frequency updates and contextual embeddedness, has gradually become an important factor influencing capital market pricing. Taking capital market information efficiency as the entry point and using listed companies on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets as samples, this study finds that the more positive ESG news coverage tends to be, the higher the company's stock price synchronicity. The mechanisms operate through: (1) News coverage tends to manifest as selective presentation, narrative convergence, or emotional expression, containing limited firm-specific information and exacerbating information asymmetry between investors and companies. (2) Management, motivated to maintain existing reputation, reduces voluntary information disclosure, weakening the supply of sensitive or forward-looking risk information. (3) Investors are prone to the cognitive bias of "information is fully reflected", reducing their willingness to actively collect and verify firm-specific information. (4) Media news coverage possesses strong value judgment attributes and dissemination advantages, easily reinforcing investor sentiment and forming consensus expectations, thereby strengthening stock price responses to common market shocks while weakening responses to firm-specific information. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of news coverage on stock price synchronicity is significantly weakened for enterprises with higher proportions of value-oriented institutional investors, lower investor attention, disclosed CSR reports, higher ESG ratings, and greater analyst coverage. From the media coverage perspective, this study reveals the micro-level pathways through which non-financial information influences capital market prices, providing reference for improving ESG information disclosure systems and optimizing external information intermediary systems.
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