Ultra-high voltage transmission and corporate ESG performance: evidence from Chinese A-share listed firms

Whether large-scale clean-energy infrastructure can alleviate the trade-off between economic growth and environmental degradation is central to environmental regulation under China's dual-carbon goals. This study examines the relationship between ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission access and corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance using firm-year observations of Chinese A-share listed companies with valid Sino-Securities ESG ratings from 2009 to 2022. We estimate a two-way fixed-effects difference-in-differences model with firm and year fixed effects, complemented by the Callaway–Sant’Anna staggered DID estimator. Firms gaining UHV access exhibit higher ESG scores, with the largest point estimate observed for the environmental dimension and smaller positive estimates for the social and governance dimensions. The positive UHV-ESG association persists after accounting for local carbon-market exposure and is also observed under alternative ESG specifications and propensity-score-matched DID estimation. Mechanism estimates are consistent with production resilience, including liquidity buffers, and reduced transition risk as two potential channels. Subgroup estimates are larger for smaller firms and firms in other classified industries, with formal coefficient-difference tests indicating cross-group variation, while positive relationships are observed in both ownership groups. These findings suggest that clean-energy infrastructure may be relevant to corporate sustainability outcomes.