... find that high-quality ESG reports are positively associated with lower costs of debt financing. ESG reporting quality positively strengthens the association between lower costs of debt financing and investment efficiency. Both overinvestment and underinvestment are mitigated in firms with lower...

... variable regression analysis and are robust to alternative proxies for capital allocation inefficiency. The capital allocation inefficiency in single-CEO firms arises from overinvestment but not underinvestment, and corporate risk-taking channels the effect. Research limitations/implications The study...