How ESG Performance Enhances Corporate Resilience: A Triple Mediation Analysis Based on Financing Constraints, Innovation, and Governance
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Keywords
ESG performance, corporate resilience, financing constraints, innovation capability, internal governance, mediation effect
Abstract
In the context of heightened economic uncertainty, corporate resilience has become a critical capability for sustainable development. Using a sample of Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2018 to 2022, this paper systematically examines the impact mechanisms of ESG performance on corporate resilience from three dimensions: financing constraints, innovation capability, and internal governance. The findings show that strong ESG performance significantly enhances corporate resilience, a result that holds under various robustness checks. Mechanism tests indicate that ESG performance strengthens corporate resilience through three parallel pathways: alleviating financing constraints, enhancing innovation capability, and optimizing internal governance. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the resilience-enhancing effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, firms with higher managerial myopia, environments with greater economic policy uncertainty, and non-heavy-polluting industries. This study extends the theoretical understanding of the antecedents of corporate resilience and provides decision-making guidance for firms to improve risk resistance through ESG practices.
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