Abstract
Regarding the deep integration of China’s “dual carbon” strategy with high-quality development, the objectives of practicing ESG principles and fostering new quality productive forces are highly aligned, which constitute an endogenous driving force for corporate sustainability. Government subsidies, by providing directional incentives and guiding resource allocation, further facilitate the integration and agglomeration of factors that underpin new quality productive forces. Yet, existing research offers limited theoretical explanation and empirical evidence regarding the relationship among these three dimensions and the mechanisms through which their effects are transmitted. To fulfill the research, this study uses resources from A-share listed enterprises in China between 2015 and 2023. From the perspective of government subsidies and grounded in signaling theory and resource allocation theory, we construct an index system to measure new quality productive forces and employ a two-way fixed effects model alongside Bootstrap mediation test to investigate the mechanisms and transmission pathways linking ESG performance, government subsidies, and new quality productive forces. The results reveal that strong ESG performance substantially enhances the new quality productive forces, and the assertion stays steadfast after addressing endogeneity concerns and conducting multiple robustness checks. Moreover, ESG performance enhances firms’ access to government subsidies, which subsequently has a partial mediation effect. The analysis also uncovers heterogeneity: the beneficial impact of ESG performance is more salient among small and medium-sized firms as well as firms in eastern regions. This study contributes to the literature by extending the theoretical framework on the correlation between ESG performance and new quality productive forces, while also offering practical insights for advancing corporate ESG practices and refining government subsidy policies.