Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, China.
PLoS One. 2024 May 14;19(5):e0301864. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301864. eCollection 2024.
Against the background of sustainable development policies, the ESG performance of Chinese manufacturing enterprises is still generally poor. As the leading enterprises in the manufacturing industry, state-owned enterprises should take the lead in responding to the national call for sustainable development and actively explore the path to improve their ESG performance. This study aims to explore whether and how state-owned manufacturing enterprises can improve their poor ESG performance through digital transformation in the digital economy. This study takes Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share state-owned listed manufacturing enterprises as the research sample and constructs an unbalanced panel. OLS regression analysis is used to empirically test the impact of digital transformation on the ESG performance of the sample firms. Further attempts are made to discuss the influence mechanism of digital transformation from the perspectives of dynamic capabilities and the institutional environment through stepwise and hierarchical regression methods, respectively. The study shows that, firstly, digital transformation is an important influencing factor in promoting the improvement of enterprises' ESG performance, and at the same time, there are significant structural differences in this influence. Second, under the dynamic capability perspective, digital transformation can improve corporate ESG performance through an absorptive feedback mechanism, matching response mechanism, and innovation efficiency enhancement mechanism. Third, from the perspective of the institutional environment, the informal system has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance, i.e., the informal system and digital transformation have a synergistic governance effect on corporate ESG performance. The moderating effect of the formal institutional environment on digital transformation and ESG performance is not significant. The findings of the study clarify the controversy over the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance of manufacturing state-owned enterprises and enrich the research on the influencing factors of corporate ESG performance. It also provides a theoretical foundation and empirical evidence for manufacturing SOEs to improve ESG performance and lead to sustainable development.
在可持续发展政策的背景下，中国制造业企业的 ESG 绩效仍普遍较差。作为制造业的龙头企业，国有企业应率先响应国家可持续发展的号召，积极探索提高 ESG 绩效的路径。本研究旨在探讨在数字经济中，国有企业是否以及如何通过数字化转型来提高其较差的 ESG 绩效。本研究以上海和深圳 A 股国有上市制造业企业为研究样本，构建了一个非平衡面板。OLS 回归分析用于实证检验数字转型对样本企业 ESG 绩效的影响。进一步尝试通过逐步和分层回归方法，分别从动态能力和制度环境的角度探讨数字转型的影响机制。研究表明：首先，数字化转型是促进企业 ESG 绩效提升的重要影响因素，同时这种影响存在显著的结构性差异。其次，从动态能力的角度来看，数字化转型可以通过吸收反馈机制、匹配响应机制和创新效率提升机制来提高企业的 ESG 绩效。第三，从制度环境的角度来看，非正式制度对数字转型与 ESG 绩效之间的关系具有显著的正向调节作用，即非正式制度和数字转型对企业 ESG 绩效具有协同治理效应。正式制度环境对数字转型和 ESG 绩效的调节作用不显著。本研究的结果澄清了关于制造业国有企业数字化转型与 ESG 绩效关系的争议，丰富了企业 ESG 绩效影响因素的研究。它还为制造业国有企业提高 ESG 绩效和实现可持续发展提供了理论基础和经验证据。
