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REVIEW PAPER
Specialization in Environmental Justice
and Enterprises’ ESG: Evidence from
the Environmental Courts in China
1
School of Economics, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning 530006, China
Submission date: 2025-06-05
Final revision date: 2025-10-21
Acceptance date: 2025-11-02
Online publication date: 2025-12-09
Publication date: 2026-01-02
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. PEaI. 2025;1(1):1-17
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The environmental protection trial court, also known as the environmental resources trial court
(henceforth referred to as the environmental court), is an institutional innovation in the field of
environmental justice. To explore the influence of environmental judicial specialization on firms’
ESG performance and its mechanism, this study uses a sample of publicly traded firms from 2009
to 2022. The results demonstrate that environmental courts have significantly improved enterprises’
ESG performance. This conclusion remains valid following a series of robustness tests. From the three
dimensions of ESG, environmental courts can significantly improve the performance of the corporate
governance dimension in the current period. However, their impact on the environmental and social
dimensions shows lagged effects. Environmental courts enhance enterprises’ ESG by reinforcing
external constraints and internal impetus. The external constraint mechanism lies in enhancing
government attention to green affairs, while the internal impetus mechanism lies in driving the digital
transformation of companies. Based on the heterogeneity analysis, the positive effects of environmental
courts are more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, those whose chairmen lack environmental
protection backgrounds, and those located in cities with stronger public channels. It is essential
to continuously deepen the specialization in environmental justice and refine the external pressure
and internal motivation mechanisms to enhance enterprises’ ESG.
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| ISSN: | 3072-1962 |
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