Government Procurement and Corporate ESG Performance: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

In the context of deepening government green procurement policies and accelerated corporate ESG, government procurement serves as a critical instrument with both demand-pull and policy-guidance functions, significantly driving corporate ESG performance. Leveraging data on government procurement orders, CSI ESG ratings, and financing constraints of Chinese listed companies from 2015 to 2023, this study employs two-way fixed effects panel models, instrumental variable (IV) methods, and mediation effect models to empirically investigate the enabling mechanism through which government procurement influences corporate ESG performance. The results reveal that government procurement significantly enhances corporate ESG performance, a conclusion that remains valid after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Furthermore, the effect varies across firm size, profitability, pollution attributes, ownership type, and geographic location, being more pronounced among large firms, profitable enterprises, non-heavy polluters, university- or research institute-affiliated firms, and those based in eastern China. Mechanism analyses indicate that government procurement improves ESG performance by alleviating corporate financing constraints. This mediating role is confirmed by Sobel and bootstrap testing in this paper. This research offers a theoretical foundation and policy insights for guiding corporate sustainable development through government procurement and provides valuable references for improving green procurement mechanisms and supporting high-quality economic development.