Educational Background of Board Secretaries and Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance: Evidence From China

ABSTRACT Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) have gradually become important indicators for investors to evaluate enterprises. Researchers have begun to pay attention to the role of board secretaries in enterprise development. This study uses data from A‐share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2013 to 2022 to examine the relationship between board secretaries' educational background and corporate ESG performance. The results show that highly educated board secretaries play a significant role in promoting ESG performance by improving green innovation cooperation, reputation, and information disclosure. In addition, the academic background of board secretaries enhances their capacity to interpret and communicate information effectively, while holding additional positions enables them to access greater information and exert broader influence. These factors—academic experience or holding supplementary roles—further reinforce the positive association between board secretaries' educational qualifications and ESG performance. This study expands the research on the economic consequences of board secretaries' educational characteristics, which further enriches the application of the upper echelons theory and the literature on factors influencing ESG development. This provides important practical implications for the selection of enterprises' board secretaries and can inform policies related to board secretaries to improve ESG performance.