IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0313686.html

Digitization path to improve ESG performance: A study on organizational perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Feifei Zhao
  • Zhipeng Han
  • Liguo Wang

Abstract

Digital technology development provides new opportunities for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance research to better evaluate firm ESG performance, improve decision-making efficiency, and enhance firm competitiveness. Therefore, under the background of digital economy, studying digitization mechanisms on ESG performance is of great theoretical and practical significance, which can help firms achieve better sustainable development and create more value for stakeholders. We use 3,827 listed A-share companies in China from 2003 to 2021 as the sample for our empirical research. Results show that digitization significantly improves ESG performance, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. Through mechanism analysis, we find that digitization improves ESG performance through organizational resilience and further reveal that organizational redundancy has a positive moderating effect between organizational resilience and ESG performance. According to our heterogeneity analysis, the marginal effects are stronger among listed firms with high market competition, in the East-Central region, in non-heavily polluting industries, and with standard audit opinions, without significant heterogeneity across the nature of equity. Our research provides a theoretical basis for digitization to drive ESG performance and ideas on how to improve the ESG performance of Chinese companies in the digital era.

Suggested Citation

  • Feifei Zhao & Zhipeng Han & Liguo Wang, 2024. "Digitization path to improve ESG performance: A study on organizational perspectives," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(12), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0313686
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313686
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313686
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313686&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0313686?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erming Xu & Hui Yang & J. Quan & Yuan Lu, 2015. "Organizational slack and corporate social performance: Empirical evidence from China’s public firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 181-198, March.
    2. Justin Tan & Mike W. Peng, 2003. "Organizational slack and firm performance during economic transitions: two studies from an emerging economy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1249-1263, December.
    3. Dongil D. Keum, 2020. "Cog in the wheel: Resource release and the scope of interdependencies in corporate adjustment activities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 175-197, February.
    4. Lynn Wu & Bowen Lou & Lorin Hitt, 2019. "Data Analytics Supports Decentralized Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4863-4877, October.
    5. Xiaowen He & Weinien Chen, 2024. "Digital Transformation and Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance from a Human Capital Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-21, June.
    6. Fang, Mingyue & Nie, Huihua & Shen, Xinyi, 2023. "Can enterprise digitization improve ESG performance?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    7. Shan Wu & Ying Li, 2023. "A Study on the Impact of Digital Transformation on Corporate ESG Performance: The Mediating Role of Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, April.
    8. Yuzhong Lu & Cheng Xu & Bingsheng Zhu & Yanqi Sun, 2024. "Digitalization transformation and ESG performance: Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 352-368, February.
    9. Cai, Cen & Tu, Yongqian & Li, Zhi, 2023. "Enterprise digital transformation and ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    10. James Heckman, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    11. Baker, Edward D. & Boulton, Thomas J. & Braga-Alves, Marcus V. & Morey, Matthew R., 2021. "ESG government risk and international IPO underpricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    12. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2002. "Information and the Change in the Paradigm in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 460-501, June.
    13. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    14. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    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. 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).
    2. Zhao, Yidan & Zhang, Cong & Zhao, Yiming & Zhou, Lin, 2025. "Data-Driven sustainability: Examining the impact of data element utilization on corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Sun, Weixiang & Guo, Yongzhong & Xie, Yan, 2025. "Examining the effects of corporate financialization and organizational redundancy on firm performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

    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. Woon Leong Lin, 2018. "Do Firm’s Organisational Slacks Influence the Relationship between Corporate Lobbying and Corporate Financial Performance? More Is Not Always Better," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Shanshan Lyu & Mingzeng Yang & Qincheng Zhang, 2024. "Top Management Team Heterogeneity, Top Management Incentives, and ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-32, September.
    3. Siqian Chen & Xin Leng & Kun Luo, 2024. "Supply chain digitalization and corporate ESG performance," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(4), pages 855-881, September.
    4. Juergen Bitzer & Erkan Goeren, 2018. "Foreign Aid and Subnational Development: A Grid Cell Analysis," Working Papers V-407-18, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2018.
    5. Nataliya Zinych & Martin Odening, 2009. "Capital market imperfections in economic transition: empirical evidence from Ukrainian agriculture," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(6), pages 677-689, November.
    6. Victoria S, Kenny, 2019. "Effect of Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 92873, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Fay, Scott & Feng, Cong & Patel, Pankaj C., 2022. "Staying small, staying strong? Retail store underexpansion and retailer profitability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 663-678.
    8. Shailer, Greg & Wang, Kun, 2015. "Government ownership and the cost of debt for Chinese listed corporations," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 1-17.
    9. Michel Dumont, 2015. "Working Paper 05-15 - Evaluation of federal tax incentives for private R&D in Belgium: An update," Working Papers 1505, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    10. Francesco Gangi & Lucia Michela Daniele & Nicola Varrone, 2020. "How do corporate environmental policy and corporate reputation affect risk‐adjusted financial performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1975-1991, July.
    11. Yamana Kazufumi, 2020. "Monte Carlo Evidence on the Estimation Method for Industry Dynamics," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, January.
    12. repec:lic:licosd:14304 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Mara, Eugenia Ramona, 2025. "Mitigating energy poverty in the European union welfare states through renewable energy and technological innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 438-460.
    14. repec:awi:wpaper:538 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Bitar, Mohammad & Hassan, M. Kabir & Saad, Wadad, 2020. "Culture and the capital–performance nexus in dual banking systems," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 34-58.
    16. Tobias Brändle & Laszlo Goerke, 2018. "The one constant: a causal effect of collective bargaining on employment growth? Evidence from German linked‐employer‐employee data," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(5), pages 445-478, November.
    17. Elisabeth Nindl, 2014. "An empirical assessment of Fairtrade: A perspective for low- and middle-income countries?," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp160, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    18. Chowdhury, Md Raihan Uddin & Alam, Md Asif Ul & Devos, Erik & Chy, Md Kamrul Hasan, 2024. "Women in C-suite: Does Top Management Team gender diversity matter? Evidence from firm investment efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    19. Jajati Keshari Parida & Shiba Shankar Pattayat, 2024. "Constraints on the Labour Market Trajectory of Youth and Growth of NEET in India," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 49(3), pages 477-503, August.
    20. Christian Pfeifer, 2009. "Fixed‐term Contracts and Employment Adjustment: An Empirical Test of the Core–Periphery Hypothesis Using German Establishment Data," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(268), pages 92-107, March.
    21. Moelders, Florian, 2011. "Trade Persistence and the Limits of Trade Agreements," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 58, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    22. Enrico Santarelli & Hien Thu Tran, 2016. "Diversification strategies and firm performance in Vietnam," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 24(1), pages 31-68, January.

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0313686. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.