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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Policy and Governance
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1561861
Influencing Pathways of Mountain-Waters Project Pilot Policy on Corporate ESG in China
Provisionally accepted- Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, China
Although considerable research has explored factors affecting corporate ESG performance and environmental policies, few studies integrate these dimensions to assess the Mountains-Waters Project pilot policy-an expansive ecological restoration initiative in China. This study examines the policy's effects on corporate ESG performance within the Yangtze River Economic Belt, a critical ecological and economic region in China. Using panel data from 129 publicly listed companies across 76 districts (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023) and a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model, we demonstrate that the pilot policy significantly enhances corporate ESG performance through three primary mechanisms: promoting green technologies, boosting media attention, and strengthening government oversight of environmental practices. Furthermore, the effects are more pronounced for high-tech and non-state-owned enterprises, suggesting heterogeneous responses to policy interventions. These results offer novel empirical evidence on the role of environmental policies in advancing corporate sustainability and provide valuable insights for the design and implementation of future policies.
Keywords: Mountains-Waters Project pilot, Corporate ESG, performance evaluation, quasi-natural experiment, Yangtze River Economic Belt, Differencein-Differences (DID) Model
Received: 18 Jan 2025; Accepted: 18 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Limin Zhang, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, China
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