ESG Ratings and Outward FDI: Financing, Industrial Upgrading, and Digital Trade in Chinese Enterprises

As the concept of sustainable development continues to spread, ESG-related research is a hot topic in current academic research. However, there is a relative lack of research exploring the ESG of Chinese enterprises on the scale of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). This paper adopts an OLS regression model to study the relevant impact of enterprises' ESG ratings on the scale of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). The results show that: enterprises with higher ESG ratings are more likely to utilize their ESG advantages to alleviate financing constraints, promote industrial upgrading, and improve industrial resilience and thus have a larger OFDI scale; This study provides new perspectives and feasible solutions for Chinese enterprises to further expand the scale of OFDI.