Towards Corporate Sustainability: Can the Cultural and Tourism Consumption Promotion Policy Enhance Corporate ESG Performance?

Xiatian Chen, Kaihua Bao, Chen Gao (), Ya Wen () and Ting Zhang
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Xiatian Chen: School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Kaihua Bao: Industrial Economics Research Institute, Research Institute of Machinery Industry Economic & Management, Beijing 100055, China
Chen Gao: The School of Finance, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha 410205, China
Ya Wen: The Business School, Hunan First Normal University, Changsha 410205, China
Ting Zhang: Industrial Economics Research Institute, Research Institute of Machinery Industry Economic & Management, Beijing 100055, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-28

Abstract: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance is increasingly recognized as a pivotal metric for assessing corporate sustainability. Hence, this study investigates the effect of the Cultural and Tourism Consumption Promotion (CTCP) policy on corporate ESG performance. By treating the designation of demonstration cities as a quasi-exogenous policy event, a difference-in-differences (DID) methodology is adopted for a sample of Chinese A-share-listed culture and tourism companies from 2011 to 2024. The results indicate that the CTCP policy substantially improves culture and tourism firms’ ESG outcomes. Analysis of the underlying mechanisms identified three primary transmission channels: contributing to corporate revenue growth, encouraging green innovation, and alleviating financing constraints. Heterogeneity analysis revealed that the improvement effect of the policy on ESG performance is more significant in state-owned firms, those with sound governance structures, and labor-intensive culture and tourism firms. In addition, the policy may trigger strategic ESG disclosures, particularly among small-scale firms, leading to a greater divergence between their ESG reporting and their actual performance. Our findings illuminate the micro-level governance impacts of special policies for cultural and tourism consumption, providing a theoretical basis and empirical reference for improving culture and tourism industry policies and guiding firms’ sustainable development.

Keywords: cultural and tourism consumption promotion policy; ESG performance; cultural and tourism consumption demonstration cities; DID model; mechanism of action (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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