ESG inequality in China’s three major urban agglomerations and its driving factors

Despite the growing body of research on ESG performance, limited attention has been paid to intra-regional disparities within urban agglomerations and the spatial mechanisms driving such inequalities. This study investigates the spatial and temporal patterns of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance inequality across China’s three major urban agglomerations—Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD)—and identifies the key driving factors shaping these disparities. Using provincial and city-level ESG data from 2005 to 2023, we quantify inequality through the Gini coefficient and Theil index, and employ spatial econometric models to explore the roles of economic development, industrial structure, technological innovation, and policy interventions. The results reveal persistent ESG disparities within and among the three urban agglomerations, with the YRD exhibiting the highest intra-regional inequality and the PRD showing the most rapid improvement in ESG convergence. Economic growth and industrial upgrading are found to positively drive ESG performance, whereas regional policy gaps and uneven technological capacity exacerbate ESG inequality. These findings underscore the importance of targeted governance strategies and coordinated policy interventions to promote balanced ESG development, providing empirical insights for achieving sustainable urban growth in China.