Can Voluntary Environmental Regulation Improve Corporate ESG? New Evidence From Green Factories in China

ABSTRACT The construction of green factories not only represents a novel, voluntarily adopted environmental regulatory practice but also serves as a critical step for enterprises in their transformation, upgrading, and pursuit of sustainable development. Using the green factory establishment policy issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as a quasinatural experiment, this study investigates the impact of voluntary environmental regulation on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Results demonstrate that green factory enterprises achieve significantly higher ESG performance than nongreen factory enterprises in the short and long term. Mechanism analysis identifies key pathways: government subsidies and innovation‐driven upgrades through digital and green technologies, with subsidies further triggering a chained mediation effect. Heterogeneity analysis reveals stronger ESG improvements in state‐owned enterprises, heavy polluters, large enterprises, and enterprises with sustained innovation capabilities (firm‐level), as well as in economically advanced, high levels of Confucian culture, and well‐governed regions (regional‐level). The moderation analysis demonstrates that investor attention and corporate reputation positively moderate this relationship. Notably, in enterprises with high investor attention, the moderating effect of corporate reputation is particularly pronounced. The economic consequence analysis suggests that improvements in ESG ratings generate multiple positive outcomes for enterprises, including increased long‐term R&D expenditures, enhanced total factor productivity, and value chain upgrading. These findings provide a comprehensive perspective on how environmental regulation can foster corporate sustainable development.