ESG Performance and Supply Chain Resilience: The Mediating Role of Green Innovation and the Moderating Effect of Digital Transformation

Under the dual challenges of frequent disruption risks in global supply chains and the sustainable transformation of enterprises, this paper, based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2002 to 2023, systematically analyzes the mechanism through which corporate ESG performance is associated with supply chain resilience, with particular attention to the mediating role of green innovation and the moderating role of digital transformation. The results show that: First, stronger ESG performance is positively associated with higher stability of both supply chain customers and suppliers, which we interpret as one structural-stability component of supply chain resilience. Second, digital transformation exerts a positive moderating effect on the ESG–stability association; i.e., a higher level of digitalization is associated with a stronger positive ESG effect. Third, green innovation plays a partial mediating role, in that ESG performance is positively associated with supply-chain stability by encouraging firms’ green technological innovation. A Sobel test indicates that this indirect effect is statistically significant at the 5% level but accounts for only about 2.5% of the total effect. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that these associations are more pronounced in the central and western regions, in heavily polluting industries, and in asset-intensive enterprises. The conclusions are robust to a series of checks, including instrumental-variable estimation, replacement of the ESG aggregation (annual mean with annual median), and winsorization. This study provides theoretical support and practical implications for firms seeking to strengthen supply chain resilience by jointly promoting ESG practices, green innovation, and digital transformation.