Analysis of Impact of Government Information Disclosure on Corporate ESG Performance —— Taking A-Share Listed Companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen as an Example

Against the backdrop of the gradual deepening of people’s democracy in the whole process, government information disclosure has become a key and fundamental institutional arrangement. It not only ensures citizens’ rights to know and participate, but also provides important support for the modernization of government governance. Government information disclosure can provide enterprises with authoritative, timely, and comparable public data, especially in areas such as environmental monitoring, social responsibility fulfillment, and corporate governance structure, significantly reducing the uncertainty of external information for enterprises. Such information helps firms identify their ESG shortcomings, optimize decision-making processes, and thus more effectively fulfill social responsibilities and improve overall ESG performance. Based on this, this paper selects panel data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2021 as the research object, and employs a difference-in-differences model to systematically examine the causal effect of government information disclosure on corporate ESG performance. The findings indicate that government information disclosure has a significant positive impact on corporate ESG performance, with particularly prominent effects on environmental information disclosure and governance transparency. The government plays an indispensable role in promoting corporate ESG development and information disclosure, acting both as an information provider and a rule-maker. To further amplify the positive effects of government information disclosure, this paper proposes the following policy recommendations: first, establish and improve a policy framework and regulatory mechanism covering environmental, social, and governance dimensions, and strengthen the standardization and mandatory nature of information disclosure; second, fully utilize the internet and big data technologies to create a unified government information release platform, improving the accessibility and coverage of information; third, enhance public ESG awareness through public guidance and supervision, forcing enterprises to proactively improve their ESG performance. Ultimately, the goal is to build a healthy, transparent, and sustainable business environment, and to promote the implementation of people’s democracy in the whole process in the economic and social fields.