IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v86y2025ipbs1544612325016812.html

Big data applications, technological empowerment, and corporate ESG performance

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Yifei
  • Lyu, Jingyi
  • Wei, Yajun

Abstract

Based on panel data of listed Chinese enterprises from 2011 to 2023, this study examines the associative effects among big data application, technological empowerment, and corporate ESG performance. The empirical results indicate: First, both big data application and technological empowerment significantly and positively drive corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance; second, technological empowerment plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between big data application and ESG performance, amplifying the positive effect of big data application on corporate ESG outcomes; third, heterogeneity tests reveal that the enhancement effect of technological empowerment on ESG performance differs significantly between high-tech and non-high-tech enterprises.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Yifei & Lyu, Jingyi & Wei, Yajun, 2025. "Big data applications, technological empowerment, and corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:86:y:2025:i:pb:s1544612325016812
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.108427
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325016812
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.108427?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Archana Saxena & Rajesh Singh & Anita Gehlot & Shaik Vaseem Akram & Bhekisipho Twala & Aman Singh & Elisabeth Caro Montero & Neeraj Priyadarshi, 2022. "Technologies Empowered Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG): An Industry 4.0 Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Jun Dai & Qiumin Zhu, 2024. "ESG performance and green innovation in a digital transformation perspective," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(1), pages 263-282, January.
    3. Qi, Yudong & Han, Minmin & Zhang, Chao, 2024. "The Synergistic Effects of Digital Technology Application and ESG Performance on Corporate Performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Xianyun Wu & Longji Li & Dekuan Liu & Qian Li, 2024. "Technology empowerment: Digital transformation and enterprise ESG performance—Evidence from China’s manufacturing sector," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(4), pages 1-24, April.
    5. Yang, Bai & Huang, Jingfeng & Chen, Yinzhong, 2025. "The relationship between ESG ratings and digital technological innovation in manufacturing: Insights via dual machine learning models," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Yiying Wang & Derek D. Wang & Rongxuan Liu, 2025. "Impact of Digital Technology Adoption on the Similarity of Sustainability Reports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Myriam Ertz & Imen Latrous & Ahlem Dakhlaoui & Shouheng Sun, 2025. "The impact of Big Data Analytics on firm sustainable performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 1261-1278, January.
    8. Li, Yiping & Zheng, Lanxing & Xie, Chang & Fang, Jiming, 2024. "Big data development and enterprise ESG performance: Empirical evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 742-755.
    9. Yiying Wang & Derek D. Wang, 2025. "The Dual Path of the Impact of Digital Technology Adoption on ESG Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    10. Asif, Muhammad & Searcy, Cory & Castka, Pavel, 2023. "ESG and Industry 5.0: The role of technologies in enhancing ESG disclosure," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    11. Chen, Jia & Wang, Ning & Lin, Tongzhi & Liu, Baoliu & Hu, Jin, 2024. "Shock or empowerment? Artificial intelligence technology and corporate ESG performance," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1080-1096.
    12. Deli Wang & Ke Peng & Kaiye Tang & Yewei Wu, 2022. "Does Fintech Development Enhance Corporate ESG Performance? Evidence from an Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Yanhui & Jin, Yangyang & Deng, Fuhua & Feng, Qianbin, 2025. "Disruption of customers' political connections and suppliers' ESG performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PF).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Yuhang & Zhong, Yilin & Xu, Feng & Zhang, Qinghua, 2025. "Driving environmental, social, and governance excellence: The direct and indirect effects of intelligent transformation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 313-331.
    2. Costantiello, Alberto & Drago, Carlo & Arnone, Massimo & Leogrande, Angelo, 2024. "Regional Research Intensity and ESG Indicators in Italy: Insights from Panel Data Models and Machine Learning," MPRA Paper 124185, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Huang, Qianxuan & Gao, Li, 2025. "Technological empowerment: The pathways of artificial intelligence influencing corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PF).
    4. Ji, Ruibing & Zhang, Shengling & Cao, Wenxuan & Hao, Yu & Wang, Nuo, 2025. "Data assets, supply chain spillovers, and corporate ESG development — Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 880-894.
    5. Li, Junjun & Wu, Tong & Hu, Boqiang & Pan, Dongliang & Zhou, Yaqiong, 2025. "Artificial intelligence and corporate ESG performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Kang, Songhee & Hong, Ahreum, 2025. "Navigating ESG challenges in ICT: Risks and rewards across the pandemic landscape," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Trotta, Annarita & Rania, Francesco & Strano, Eugenia, 2024. "Exploring the linkages between FinTech and ESG: A bibliometric perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Yu, Yang & Chan, Hau-Ling & Cho, Erin, 2026. "Enhancing ESG performance through digital transformation: Recent development, cases and relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    9. Mu, Tian tian & Shan, Qiaojuan & Zhu, Guangyu & Xu, Yang & Agag, Gomaa & Alipour, Osman, 2026. "Beyond technology: The dual role of AI and narratives in driving ESG performance in China's retail industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Vittorio Laus & Enrico Battisti & Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete, 2026. "Merging innovation and responsibility: the role of digital M&A in shaping ESG performance," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 1-29, June.
    11. Wang, Yang & Wang, Yongheng & Yang, Pengyu, 2025. "Does artificial intelligence impact corporate ESG performance? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    12. Marta Szczepańczyk & Paweł Nowodziński & Adam Sikorski, 2023. "ESG Strategy and Financial Aspects Using the Example of an Oil and Gas Midstream Company: The UNIMOT Group," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-24, September.
    13. repec:rjr:romjef:v::y:2025:i:3:p:5-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Yang, Tongshu & Zhou, Nina, 2025. "Artificial intelligence and the quality of corporate accounting information disclosure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PD).
    15. Hu, Siyang & Zhang, Chongyan, 2025. "ESG disclosure quality, supply chain resilience, and corporate performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PE).
    16. Li, Dengjia & Ma, Chaoqun & Yang, Jinglan & Li, Hao, 2024. "ESG performance and corporate fraud," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    17. Hao, Pu & Alharbi, Samar S. & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Zhao, Shikuan, 2025. "How do ESG ratings promote digital technology innovation?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Meng, Tao & Li, Qi & He, Chang & Dong, Zheng, 2025. "Research on the configuration path of manufacturing enterprises' digital servitization transformation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    19. Li, Houjian & Cheng, Quanfeixue & Su, Mengying & Zhang, Kuan, 2025. "Empowering ESG: The pivotal influence of directors' and officers' liability insurance on corporate sustainability," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    20. Yuan Feng & Changfei Nie, 2024. "Digital technology innovation and corporate environmental, social, and governance performance: Evidence from a sample of listed firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 3836-3854, September.
    21. Jannesar Niri, Anahita & Poelzer, Gregory A. & Zhang, Steven E. & Rosenkranz, Jan & Pettersson, Maria & Ghorbani, Yousef, 2024. "Sustainability challenges throughout the electric vehicle battery value chain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:86:y:2025:i:pb:s1544612325016812. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.