The holistic reshaping and advancement of the global economy inherently demand the creation of synergies between digitization and environmentally sustainable development practices. This study pioneers an evaluation of the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings on corporate digital technology innovation, contrasting with existing literature. Using data from A‐share listed firms for 2011–2020, our research reveals that implementing ESG ratings stimulates corporate digital technology innovation across various dimensions, thereby confirming the presence of the Porter hypothesis in the digital era. Furthermore, these findings are substantiated through the utilization of various methodologies, such as synthetic difference‐in‐differences (SDID), multi‐period DID, event studies, and staggered DID. In addition, mechanism tests delve into the underlying channels through which ESG ratings stimulate corporate digital technology innovation, elucidating their ability to promote innovation through motivation stimulus and resource supply effects. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis carried out in this study uncovers diverse effects on digital technology innovation stemming from factors such as firm characteristics, industry competitiveness, industry nature, regional intellectual property protection (IPP), and factor market development. Nevertheless, companies should refrain from blindly pursuing high ESG ratings to avoid overcorrecting because there is an inverse U‐shape relationship between ESG ratings and corporate digital technology innovation. These findings provide the theoretical basis and empirical evidence for the widescale utilization of ESG ratings. Thus, they offer useful guidance for executives and other policymakers aiming to foster a win–win scenario of digitization and green development.

中文翻译：

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ESG 评级能否推动企业的数字化创新？探索数字时代的波特假说


全球经济的全面重塑和发展本质上要求在数字化和环境可持续发展实践之间建立协同效应。与现有文献形成对比，本研究率先评估了环境、社会和治理 （ESG） 评级对企业数字技术创新的影响。根据 2011-2020 年 A 股上市公司的数据，我们的研究显示，实施 ESG 评级可以刺激企业在各个维度上的数字技术创新，从而证实了数字时代波特假说的存在。此外，这些发现通过利用各种方法得到证实，例如合成双重差分 （SDID）、多周期 DID、事件研究和交错 DID。此外，机制测试深入研究了 ESG 评级刺激企业数字技术创新的潜在渠道，阐明了它们通过激励刺激和资源供应效应促进创新的能力。此外，本研究进行的异质性分析揭示了企业特征、行业竞争力、行业性质、区域知识产权保护 （IPP） 和要素市场发展等因素对数字技术创新的不同影响。尽管如此，公司应避免盲目追求高 ESG 评级，以避免过度纠正，因为 ESG 评级与企业数字技术创新之间存在反 U 型关系。这些发现为 ESG 评级的广泛应用提供了理论基础和实证证据。 因此，它们为旨在促进数字化和绿色发展双赢局面的高管和其他政策制定者提供了有用的指导。