Belt and Road Initiative and sustainable development performance of Chinese enterprises

On the basis of the A-share listed companies in China from 2009 to 2019, this study uses the difference-in-differences method to evaluate the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the sustainable development performance (SDP) of the enterprises. Results show that BRI increase the enterprise compliance pressure, forcing them to carry out green process reform to improve improve the SDP of enterprises, and the dynamic effect is increasing year by year. The mechanism analysis reveals that BRI promotes the SDP of enterprises by enhancing enterprise green innovation, environmental protection investment, and media governance. The heterogeneity results show that the promotion of the BRI on enterprises' SDP is mainly reflected in enterprises located in node cities, clean enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and capital-intensive enterprises. This study expands research on the BRI and enterprise SD and provides empirical evidence and policy suggestions for the subsequent policy deployment of the BRI and ideas for enterprises’ own development and upgrading.