ESG performance, supply chain relationship stability and enterprise technology innovation

Purpose The enterprise environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance can bring advantages to corporate operations by sending favorable signals and reducing transaction costs. This paper empirically tests the impact of ESG performance on enterprise technology innovation and introduces supply chain relationship stability as an intermediary variable to discuss the intrinsic mechanism of the impact. Design/methodology/approach Collecting non-equilibrium panel data of 3272 A-share listed firms, we use a fixed effect model and an intermediary effect test to verify the research hypothesis. Findings ESG performance of an enterprise can positively promote enterprise technology innovation, and the conclusion is still valid after the robustness test. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of ESG performance on enterprise technology innovation is different when considering the nature of corporate ownership and industries. Mechanism analysis shows that ESG performance can positively promote enterprise technology innovation by improving supply chain relationship stability. Originality/value This paper expands the research about the impact of ESG performance on enterprise technology innovation from the perspective of supply chain relationship, and complements the literature on the economic effect of ESG advantage, which is of great importance for improving enterprise technology innovation, optimizing supply chain resource allocation and promoting sustainable development.