The impact of digitalization on corporate ESG performance: an empirical analysis of Chinese A-Share listed companies

The influence of corporate digitalization on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in Chinese A-share listed companies is investigated with data spanning 2011–2020. Using Bloomberg's ESG scores and a novel approach to measure digitalization levels based on keyword frequency in annual reports, we find that digitalization significantly enhances ESG performance, and smart manufacturing technology has the most significant impact, followed by digital technology application, modern information systems, and internet business models.