Abstract:  The new quality productive forces in essence are green, with a significant increase in total factor productivity as its core indicator. Accelerating the formation of new quality productive forces is key to achieving high-quality economic development in China. This paper employed the attention-based view to examine the impact of institutional investor ESG activism on the cultivation of corporate new quality productive forces, and analyzed the mediating role of management attention allocation, as well as the segmented moderating effects of digital media and digital intelligence manufacturing. Based on the hierarchical regression analysis of data from 2,660 Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2022, the study found that: (1) institutional investor ESG activism has a significant positive impact on corporate green total factor productivity; (2) management attention allocation mediates the relationship between institutional investor ESG activism and corporate green total factor productivity; (3) digital media positively moderates the relationship between institutional investor ESG activism and management attention allocation; and (4) digital intelligence manufacturing positively moderates the relationship between management attention allocation and corporate green total factor productivity. The research has clarified the mechanisms through which institutional investor ESG activism influences the cultivation of corporate new quality productive forces, thus enriching the literature on shareholder activism and the cultivation of new quality productive forces. Moreover, by combining the digital context to discuss the green governance role of shareholder activism, it will provide important insights for the coordinated development of digitalization and greening in China.

Key words: new quality productive force, institutional investor, ESG activism, attention-based view, digitalization