IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jnddns/v2025y2025i1n8847322.html

Can Servitization Strategy Improve Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Performance? Empirical Evidence From Listed Manufacturing Enterprises in China

Author

Listed:
  • Hailin Dong
  • Juhong Chen
  • Le Zhang

Abstract

At present, utilizing servitization to enhance the ESG performance of manufacturing enterprises is an important strategic path for achieving carbon reduction and sustainable development in the manufacturing industry. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and a sample of A‐share listed manufacturing companies from 2010 to 2022, this paper investigates the impact of servitization on ESG performance and its mechanism, based on the theory of service‐dominant logic. We find that servitization of manufacturing enterprises is conducive to improving ESG performance. Mechanism testing suggests that servitization improves corporate ESG performance by leveraging innovation‐driven effects and resource allocation effects. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of servitization on ESG performance is more significant in high‐pollution, high‐technology, and growing enterprises. Our findings enrich theoretical studies on servitization and provide new insights for enhancing manufacturing enterprises’ ESG performance and promoting green and high‐quality development in the manufacturing industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Hailin Dong & Juhong Chen & Le Zhang, 2025. "Can Servitization Strategy Improve Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Performance? Empirical Evidence From Listed Manufacturing Enterprises in China," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2025(1).
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:jnddns:v:2025:y:2025:i:1:n:8847322
    DOI: 10.1155/ddns/8847322
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1155/ddns/8847322
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1155/ddns/8847322?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. Li, Fengzuo & Na, Pengjie & Wang, Xiaolan & Li, Xinyu, 2024. "Environmental protection taxes, audit fees and corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    2. Kira R. Fabrizio & L. G. Thomas, 2012. "The Impact of Local Demand on Innovation in a Global Industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 42-64, January.
    3. Bofinger, Yannik & Heyden, Kim J. & Rock, Björn, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and market efficiency: Evidence from ESG and misvaluation measures," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Na, Chaohong & Ni, Zhixing & Shu, Qiu & Zhang, He, 2024. "Can government subsidies improve corporate ESG performance? Evidence from listed enterprises in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Wei, Zelong & Huang, Wengao & Wang, Yanping & Sun, Lulu, 2022. "When does servitization promote product innovation? The moderating roles of product modularization and organization formalization," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    6. Paunov, Caroline & Rollo, Valentina, 2016. "Has the Internet Fostered Inclusive Innovation in the Developing World?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 587-609.
    7. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    8. Ye, Xu & Hou, Rong & Wang, Shihan & Omar, Nor Asiah Binti, 2024. "Social media, relationship marketing and corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    9. Crifo, Patricia & Forget, Vanina D. & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2015. "The price of environmental, social and governance practice disclosure: An experiment with professional private equity investors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 168-194.
    10. Levente Szász & László Seer, 2018. "Towards an operations strategy model of servitization: the role of sustainability pressure," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 51-66, June.
    11. Wang, Yanping & Gao, Jie & Wei, Zelong, 2022. "The double-edged sword of servitization in radical product innovation: The role of latent needs identification," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Fan, Yiyi & Li, Shanshan & Yang, WenQi, 2024. "The impact of the percentage of female directors on corporate ESG score," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    13. Adhikari, Binay Kumar & Agrawal, Anup, 2016. "Religion, gambling attitudes and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 229-248.
    14. Zhang, Feng & Yin, Xile & Zhang, Haina & Zhan, Xiangcen, 2024. "Does environmental regulation enhance servitization in aspirant markets? Evidence from China's manufacturing sector," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    15. Wang, Ziyuan & Zhang, Cong & Wu, Ran & Sha, Lina, 2024. "From ethics to efficiency: Understanding the interconnected dynamics of ESG performance, financial efficiency, and cash holdings in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Wang, Ying & Chen, Xiangyuan, 2020. "Natural resource endowment and ecological efficiency in China: Revisiting resource curse in the context of ecological efficiency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Li, Junjun & Wu, Tong & Liu, Bailu & Zhou, Ming, 2024. "Can digital transformation enhance corporate ESG performance? The moderating role of dual environmental regulations," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    18. Wang, Jianlong & Wang, Weilong & Wu, Haitao & Liu, Yong, 2023. "Exploring the effects of manufacturing servitization on enterprise energy conservation and emissions reduction moderated by digital transformation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    19. Li, Yujie & Hua, Ziyan, 2024. "Environmental protection tax law and corporate ESG performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    20. Huang, Qinghua & Yuan, Wei & Zheng, Chengsi & Chen, Kaiming & Chen, Xiding & Wang, Yi & Li, Changke, 2024. "Can Confucianism improve ESG performance?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    21. Patrick Velte, 2023. "Which institutional investors drive corporate sustainability? A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 42-71, January.
    22. Laure Ambroise & Isabelle Prim-Allaz & Christine Teyssier, 2018. "Financial performance of servitized manufacturing firms: A configuration issue between servitization strategies and customer-oriented organizational design. 71, 54-68," Post-Print hal-02127657, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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, Fenglan & Chen, Xing, 2025. "Mitigating pollution emissions of manufacturing firms: Does input servitization matter? Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    2. Kumar, Mukesh & Raut, Rakesh D. & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Choubey, Vikas Kumar, 2024. "Moderating ESG compliance between industry 4.0 and green practices with green servitization: Examining its impact on green supply chain performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    3. Mou, Saiya & Wang, Xinquan & Hu, Feng, 2025. "Does privatization hurt ESG? The role of state-owned imprinting," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Zhao, Shuang & Zhang, Liqun & Peng, Lin & Zhou, Haiyan & Hu, Feng, 2024. "Enterprise pollution reduction through digital transformation? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Chen, Anqi & Lian, Zihan & Zhang, Zhida, 2025. "Do institutional investors’ site visits promote firm productivity? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PD).
    6. Yu, Degan & Wang, Cong & Cai, Guilong & Qiang, Haofan, 2024. "Local gambling attitudes and firms' financing strategies: New insights from the geographic structure in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    7. Duran-Vanegas, Juan, 2026. "Early AI Adoption and Firm Productivity Growth in a Middle-Income Economy: Evidence from Colombia," SocArXiv 64nmf_v1, Center for Open Science.
    8. Fernandes, Ana M. & Mattoo, Aaditya & Nguyen, Huy & Schiffbauer, Marc, 2019. "The internet and Chinese exports in the pre-ali baba era," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 57-76.
    9. Fu, Senliulu & Su, Kun & Zhang, Miaomiao, 2026. "The nonlinear linkage between corporate financialization and total factor productivity: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    10. Juan Jung & Enrique López-Bazo & Matteo Grazzi, 2017. "Internet and enterprise productivity: evidence from Latin America," IREA Working Papers 201709, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised May 2017.
    11. Wang, Kai & Chen, Xi & Wang, Chenye, 2023. "The impact of sustainable development planning in resource-based cities on corporate ESG–Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    12. Li, Mangmang & Tang, Jinghua & Wu, Dingwen, 2025. "Beyond borders and industries: How cross-ownership drives ESG performance in China’ low-polluting firms after environmental regulation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    13. Lihua Zeng & Hao Li & Liyu Lin & Dora Juan Juan Hu & Hui Liu, 2024. "ESG Standards in China: Bibliometric Analysis, Development Status Research, and Future Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-24, August.
    14. Sun, Zhonghua & Wei, Wei, 2025. "Green technology innovation and corporate brand competitiveness: an analysis based on the role of environmental policy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Wu, Xiuling & Sun, Xueli, 2025. "Environmental protection tax and green low-carbon development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    16. Song, Changhao & Han, Minchun & Yuan, Hankun, 2025. "The impact of digital transformation on firm productivity: From the perspective of sustainable development," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    17. Zhang, Jingjing & Zhang, Weiwei & Su, Chang & Kattuman, Paul, 2025. "The impact of environmental protection fee-to-tax reform on differentiated environmental management behavior of firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PB).
    18. Wu, Kai & Lai, Seiwai, 2020. "Intangible intensity and stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Rui Li & Jing Rao & Liangyong Wan, 2022. "The digital economy, enterprise digital transformation, and enterprise innovation," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2875-2886, October.
    20. Marcel Bednarz & Tom Broekel, 2020. "Pulled or pushed? The spatial diffusion of wind energy between local demand and supply," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(4), pages 893-916.

    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:wly:jnddns:v:2025:y:2025:i:1:n:8847322. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/3059 .

    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.