ESG performance, green technology innovation, and corporate value: Evidence from industrial listed companies

This study utilizes comprehensive longitudinal panel data encompassing all A-share industrial listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2012 to 2023. Employing a two-way fixed effects model that controls for both firm-level heterogeneity and temporal variations, we conduct rigorous empirical analysis to investigate the causal relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and market valuation in the industrial sector. Furthermore, the research examines the moderating impact of R&D expenditure and the mediating influence of green technological innovation. The study's findings show the following: Firstly, at the 1 % significant level, ESG performance of industrial firms shows a positive association with firm value, with R&D spending acting as a negative moderator in this relationship. Enterprises should strengthen ESG construction and focus on improving the conversion rate of R&D results. The government and relevant regulatory authorities should strengthen ESG disclosure standards and incentive mechanism policy support, and incentivise enterprises to actively undertake ESG responsibilities. Secondly, company's degree of green technology innovation is favorably positively connected with its ESG performance, indicating that ESG can promote such innovation and thereby enhance enterprise value. Enterprises should actively practice the innovation-driven development strategy and carry out green technological innovation. Thirdly, only non-state-owned businesses benefit from ESG performance, according to heterogeneity analysis. Additionally, small and low-growth companies' value is more heavily influenced by ESG performance than is the case for large and high-growth companies. This paper enriches the research on ESG value effects and provides a new theoretical basis for understanding the intrinsic links and mechanisms between ESG and corporate value. It provides policy insights for the ultimate realisation of the symbiotic and integrated development of enterprises and the social environment.