Blessing or curse? ESG disclosure and agricultural firm resilience

Introduction Agricultural firm resilience is increasingly challenged by climate change, environmental scrutiny, and the growing exposure of sustainability-related risks. In this context, examining whether ESG disclosure can enhance agricultural firm resilience is of clear theoretical and practical importance. Methods Using a panel of Chinese listed agricultural firms comprising 1,649 firm-year observations, this study examines the relationship between ESG disclosure and agricultural firm resilience. The explanatory variable is an annual-report-based ESG disclosure index constructed through text analysis, principal component analysis, and entropy weighting. Agricultural firm resilience is measured as a composite indicator that combines resistance capacity and adaptive capacity. Results Baseline regressions show that ESG disclosure is positively associated with agricultural firm resilience. The result remains robust after replacing the key explanatory variable, applying an instrumental-variable strategy, excluding special samples, performing propensity score matching, and removing the pandemic period. Mechanism tests indicate that ESG disclosure strengthens resilience by improving green innovation and enhancing corporate social reputation. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect is more pronounced among firms located in major grain-producing areas and in western China. Discussion The findings enrich the literature on ESG disclosure and sectoral resilience and provide evidence that information-based sustainability governance can become a strategic resource for agricultural firms facing external shocks.