Definitions of main variables.

Against the background of sustainable development policies, the ESG performance of Chinese manufacturing enterprises is still generally poor. As the leading enterprises in the manufacturing industry, state-owned enterprises should take the lead in responding to the national call for sustainable development and actively explore the path to improve their ESG performance. This study aims to explore whether and how state-owned manufacturing enterprises can improve their poor ESG performance through digital transformation in the digital economy. This study takes Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share state-owned listed manufacturing enterprises as the research sample and constructs an unbalanced panel. OLS regression analysis is used to empirically test the impact of digital transformation on the ESG performance of the sample firms. Further attempts are made to discuss the influence mechanism of digital transformation from the perspectives of dynamic capabilities and the institutional environment through stepwise and hierarchical regression methods, respectively. The study shows that, firstly, digital transformation is an important influencing factor in promoting the improvement of enterprises’ ESG performance, and at the same time, there are significant structural differences in this influence. Second, under the dynamic capability perspective, digital transformation can improve corporate ESG performance through an absorptive feedback mechanism, matching response mechanism, and innovation efficiency enhancement mechanism. Third, from the perspective of the institutional environment, the informal system has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance, i.e., the informal system and digital transformation have a synergistic governance effect on corporate ESG performance. The moderating effect of the formal institutional environment on digital transformation and ESG performance is not significant. The findings of the study clarify the controversy over the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance of manufacturing state-owned enterprises and enrich the research on the influencing factors of corporate ESG performance. It also provides a theoretical foundation and empirical evidence for manufacturing SOEs to improve ESG performance and lead to sustainable development.在可持续发展政策的时代背景下，中国制造业企业的环境、社会和公司治理（ESG）表现整体仍较为薄弱。作为制造业的领军主体，国有企业理应率先响应国家可持续发展号召，积极探索提升自身ESG表现的可行路径。本研究旨在探究数字经济背景下，国有制造业企业能否通过数字化转型改善其欠佳的ESG表现，并解析其具体作用路径。本研究以上海证券交易所与深圳证券交易所A股上市国有制造业企业为研究样本，构建非平衡面板数据集，并采用普通最小二乘（OLS）回归分析法，对数字化转型对样本企业ESG表现的影响进行实证检验。本研究进一步分别采用逐步回归法与分层回归法，从动态能力与制度环境双视角探讨数字化转型的作用机制。研究结果表明：其一，数字化转型是推动企业ESG表现提升的重要影响因素，且该影响存在显著的结构性差异。其二，从动态能力视角来看，数字化转型可通过吸收反馈机制、匹配响应机制与创新效率提升机制改善企业ESG表现。其三，从制度环境视角而言，非正式制度对数字化转型与企业ESG表现间的关系具有显著正向调节作用，即非正式制度与数字化转型对企业ESG表现存在协同治理效应；而正式制度环境对数字化转型与ESG表现间关系的调节效应并不显著。本研究结论厘清了制造业国有企业（SOE）数字化转型与ESG表现间关系的既有争议，丰富了企业ESG表现影响因素的相关研究，同时也为制造业国有企业（SOE）提升ESG表现、引领可持续发展提供了理论基础与实证证据。