Corporate ESG Performance, Green Innovation, and Green New Quality Productivity: Evidence from China

Yan Ma, Pei Liu () and Haonan Chen ()
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Yan Ma: School of Accounting, Taizhou Institute of Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Taizhou 225300, China
Pei Liu: School of Accounting, Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics, Urumqi 830012, China
Haonan Chen: School of Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-21

Abstract: In recent years, China has placed significant emphasis on sustainable economic and social development, actively implementing the concept of green development. In 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that all regions should actively develop new-quality productivity, signifying a deepening of green and sustainable development principles. As an internationally recognized indicator for measuring corporate sustainability, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria may influence the enhancement of new-quality productivity across regions, particularly in relation to green new quality productivity. This paper investigates the effects of corporate ESG performance on the levels of green and new-quality productivity using data from China’s A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022. The findings reveal the following: (1) corporate ESG performance significantly enhances the level of green new quality productivity; (2) mechanism tests indicate that corporate ESG performance enhances green new quality productivity by promoting firms’ green innovation; and (3) further analysis shows that the effect of ESG performance on green new quality productivity is more pronounced in firms with low levels of financing constraints, high media attention, and elevated green awareness among executives. These findings provide empirical evidence for strengthening corporate ESG performance, promoting green innovation, elevating regional levels of green and new-quality productivity, and advancing sustainable development, thereby offering valuable insights for developing countries.

Keywords: green new quality productivity; ESG performance; green innovation; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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