Assessing the impact of government environmental attention on corporate ESG performance: Empirical insights from A-share listed firms in China

This study assesses the impact of Governmental Environmental Attention (GEA) on the ESG performance of Ashare listed firms in China from 2011 to 2020. Utilizing Python for textual analysis of government reports, we quantified local governments' environmental attention and its influence on ESG. Findings indicate that increased governmental attention significantly boosts ESG performance, especially in privately-owned and politicallyconnected firms, due to higher regional environmental investments and stronger internal and media scrutiny. The impact of GEA is further moderated by executives' political connections, with varying effects across different regional and economic contexts. These results underscore the importance of integrating environmental policies in corporate strategies to enhance economic quality and productivity.