From ESG Performance to Corporate Resilience: Evidence from China’s Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

Against the backdrop of global sustainable development goals, the resilience of manufacturing enterprises has become a critical topic. It serves as an important benchmark for assessing ability to coordinate environmental responsibilities and economic benefits. It also plays a pivotal role in driving the green transformation of industries and sustainable social development. To examine the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and corporate resilience, as well as their underlying mechanisms, this study develops a research model incorporating moderating and mediating effects. Using a sample of manufacturing listed companies in China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets covering the period 2011–2023, the study systematically investigates the impact of ESG performance on corporate resilience. The results indicate that ESG performance significantly enhances corporate resilience, and this conclusion remains valid under various robustness tests. Further mechanism analysis reveals that ESG performance effectively promotes corporate resilience by improving resource allocation efficiency, with analyst attention exerting a positive moderating effect in this process. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promoting effect of ESG performance on corporate resilience is more significant in technology-intensive and labor-intensive industries, high environmental sensitivity industries, markets with intense competition, and firms with low resource slack. This study not only expands the theoretical explanatory framework in the fields of corporate sustainable development and organizational resilience but also provides policy and management implications for manufacturing firms to achieve green transformation and sustainable competitiveness through ESG practices in an uncertain environment.