Abstract: In recent years, the abnormal phenomenon of listed companies holding high amounts of cash while borrowing short-term loans has become the focus of social attention. Taking A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2021 as samples, this paper examines the impact of the ESG performance of enterprises on the “double high deposit and loan”anomaly. The findings show that the good performance of corporate ESG can significantly inhibit the“double high deposit and loan”anomaly. The mechanism analysis shows that good enterprise ESG performance can improve their information transparency, reduce their agency costs and alleviate their financing constraints, so as to restrain the “double high deposit and loan”abnormal phenomenon. The heterogeneity analysis shows that in industries with higher competition and in regions with poor market environment, the enterprise ESG performance has a more significant inhibitory effect on the“double high deposit and loan”anomaly. The analysis of economic consequences reveals that the enterprise ESG performance can inhibit the “double high deposit and loan”phenomenon, thus reduce the risk of stock price collapse of enterprises. Therefore, to effectively manage the“double high deposit and loan”phenomenon of enterprises, enterprises should actively improve their ESG performance level, so as to promote the orderly operation of the capital market and the high-quality development of the economy.

Key words: ESG performance, high deposit and loan, the risk of stock price collapse