Amid the push for sustainable and high-quality development, corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance has garnered increasing attention from stakeholders. This empirical study uses a 2009–2022 panel of 1264 A-share-listed companies to examine the impact of ESG performance on corporate sustainability paths and to identify the channels through which this impact operates. Ordinary least squares estimates show that stronger ESG performance is associated with significantly higher total factor productivity, and the effect is more pronounced in heavy-polluting industries. Mechanism tests indicate that ESG disclosure mediates this relationship, with its influence emerging over time and strengthening in subsequent years. The mediation also varies across ESG pillars, with social disclosure exerting the most decisive influence. These findings provide actionable insights—both motivating managers to strengthen their ESG engagement and informing policymakers as they seek to refine regulatory frameworks. By highlighting the value-creating role of ESG in aligning growth with sustainability, this study offers a novel perspective on corporate transformation within the context of a rapidly evolving economic landscape.

Climate risks arising from carbon emissions have become a major global challenge, constraining economic development and exerting complex effects on firms’ operations at the micro level. This study examines A-share-listed companies from 2009 to 2023, calculating the extent of carbon risks and the degree of greenwashing. Our results show that carbon risks suppress greenwashing among these enterprises, with financing constraints and the quality of internal controls positively moderating this effect from both external and internal perspectives. This suggests that the pressure imposed by carbon risks encourages enterprises to prioritize environmental concerns and actively disclose relevant information. Additionally, governments and regulatory authorities should increase their policy and regulatory pressures on these enterprises, guiding them to confront environmental challenges, assume significant responsibility for ecological protection, and formulate sustainable development strategies to enhance their competitiveness and long-term viability.

Against the backdrop of China’s dual-carbon goals and the growing emphasis on sustainable development, ESG information has become an important non-financial signal in capital markets; yet whether and how it is priced by investors remains unclear. Using a sample of 2018–2024 Chinese A-share listed firms, this study examines the relationship between corporate ESG ratings and firm market value, with a particular focus on the mediating role of institutional ownership and investor heterogeneity. We find that firms with higher ESG ratings exhibit significantly higher market value, indicating that the market assigns a valuation premium to favorable ESG evaluations. Mediation analyses further show that higher ESG ratings are associated with increased institutional ownership, which in turn enhances firm value. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that this mediating effect is primarily driven by long-term institutional investors, whereas medium-term and short-term institutions neither respond systematically to ESG ratings nor transmit ESG rating information into firm valuation. In additional analyses, we show that ESG rating divergence significantly weakens the positive valuation effect of ESG ratings by increasing informational uncertainty and reducing the credibility of ESG rating signals. Overall, this study provides new evidence on the investor-based mechanisms underlying ESG rating-based pricing and highlights the importance of improving the transparency and comparability of ESG ratings in China’s capital market.

Fulfilling corporate ESG responsibilities enhances a firm’s sustainable development capabilities but also comes at an economic cost. This study investigates whether firms should invest heavily in ESG or maintain moderate ESG practices to balance cost efficiency and resilience. Using a sample of A-share listed companies in China from 2012 to 2024, we employ OLS regression models to explore the impact of ESG responsibility fulfillment on cost stickiness and the factors that influence this relationship. The study finds that (1) there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between corporate ESG responsibility fulfillment and cost stickiness; (2) the turning point lies between the B and CCC Huazheng ESG rating levels. Below this level, ESG responsibility fulfillment reduces cost stickiness, while above it, excessive ESG fulfillment increases cost stickiness; (3) environmental sensitivity, managerial overconfidence, and state ownership amplify this non-linear effect, making the reduction or increase in cost stickiness more pronounced. This paper deepens the understanding of the drivers of cost stickiness from the perspective of ESG responsibility fulfillment, offering new insights for future research on cost behavior and providing valuable guidance for firms seeking to optimize cost management through ESG strategies.