Exploring the Non-Linear Impacts of Digital Maturity on Corporate Sustainability: New Evidence from Türkiye

This study explores the impact of digital maturity on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of Turkish companies listed on Borsa Istanbul. The analysis is based on a sample of 49 non-financial firms included in the BIST 100 Index, covering the period of 2016-2022. A digital maturity index is constructed using a text mining approach to quantify the frequency of digital-related terms in the firm’s annual reports. Panel data analysis is employed to investigate the relationship between digital maturity and ESG performance. The findings indicate that digital maturity has a significant inverse U-shaped effect on social performance, an insignificant inverse U-shaped effect on environmental performance, and an insignificant U-shaped effect on corporate governance performance. The results suggest that moderate levels of digitalization enhance social performance, whereas excessive digitalization may have an adverse effect.