Fang Rui

School of Management Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Finance and Economics

Abstract：

With the accelerated progress of global climate governance, the concept of "dual carbon" (carbon peak and carbon neutrality) has become a consensus among many countries, and the green and low-carbon transition has emerged as a core trend in global industrial development. Following theoretical analysis, this paper utilizes panel data from Chinese A-share listed automobile manufacturing enterprises from 2012 to 2023 to construct a two-way fixed-effects model. It empirically examines the impact of corporate ESG performance on carbon emission intensity and explores the mediating mechanism of green innovation. The study finds that the ESG performance of automobile manufacturing enterprises has a significant negative impact on carbon emission intensity, with green innovation playing a mediating role in this process. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this negative impact persists among non-state-owned automobile enterprises but disappears among state-owned ones. In response, automobile manufacturing enterprises should enhance their ESG performance, empower low-carbon transition through green innovation, and implement targeted measures for state-owned automobile enterprises to strengthen the linkage between their ESG performance and carbon emission intensity management, thereby unleashing emission reduction effects.

Key Words：

automobile manufacturing enterprises; ESG; carbon emission intensity; green innovation; mediating effect