ESG performance and corporate technology innovation: Evidence from China

With the concept of sustainable development and innovation-driven development strategy proposed in China, as well as the promotion of the concept of ESG, which takes into account both economic and social benefits, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study how ESG empowers both internal management and external investors, and ultimately enhances corporate technological innovation (CTI). This paper takes Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021 as the research object, and tries to study the impact of ESG performance on CTI and its mechanism based on the perspective of innovation process. It is found that: (1) ESG performance can effectively promote the intensity of R&D investment, innovation output and quality of enterprises, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. (2) The innovation incentive effect of ESG performance is more obvious in enterprises in traditional industries, manufacturing industries and heavy pollution industries; (3) ESG performance mainly affects CTI through alleviating enterprise financing constraints, improving enterprise market expectations and gathering high-end research talents. The above findings have important implications for optimizing corporate ESG disclosure mechanisms and promoting CTI through process optimization.