The double‐edged sword effect of organizational resilience on ESG performance

Abstract Building on conservation of resources theory, we construct a dual‐pathway approach which aims to reveal the mixed effects of organizational resilience on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance. Specifically, this paper argues that organizational resilience will both stimulate innovation input, enhancing ESG performance (positive pathway) and promote strategic change, inhibiting ESG performance (negative pathway). Meanwhile, the indirect effect of organizational resilience on ESG performance via innovation input and strategic change is also moderated by industry concentration, and both indirect effects are stronger when industry concentration is low. Data of Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2010 to 2020 support the proposed theoretical framework. This study provides theoretical and managerial implications for organizational resilience research.