Abstract Based on data from non-financial A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2023, this study systematically examines the impact of corporate ESG performance on the development of new quality productive forces and its underlying mechanisms. The results show that corporate ESG performance significantly promotes the development of new quality productivity, and this conclusion remains robust after a series of tests addressing endogeneity and verifying robustness, including alternative variable measures, instrumental variable approaches and propensity score matching. The mechanism analysis indicates that ESG performance primarily promotes the development of new quality productivity by optimizing workforce structure, upgrading production technologies, and improving internal management, thereby reshaping the three core elements of “ personnel-technology-management. ” Further research reveals that the impact of ESG performance on new quality productivity is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, capital-intensive firms, enterprises operating in highly competitive markets and those located in the eastern regions of China. The research conclusions reveal, from a micro-level perspective, the important pathways through which ESG empowers new quality productivity. They construct a “ Three-Benefit and Three-Upgrade ” framework for Chinese enterprises, wherein ESG performance fosters new quality productivity, thereby providing theoretical support and practical references for accelerating the formation of new quality productivity within the context of high-quality development.
2026, Vol. 43 
