Abstract:    Intellectual property protection, as a core motivator of innovation development, drives green innovation to enhance corporate ESG performance, thereby contributing to high-quality growth. Accordingly, it is crucial for China to evaluate corporate ESG performance in intellectual property demonstration (IPD) areas to provide a reference for future policy and institutional frameworks. This study employed IPD areas as a quasi-natural experiment, using the multi-period difference-in-differences approach to examine the impact of intellectual property protection on corporate ESG performance. The research found that: (1) Intellectual property protection policies, as exemplified by IPD, can enhance corporate ESG performance; (2) The mechanism analysis showed that IPD promotes the green innovation performance and its flow within enterprises, which enhances the ESG performance of the enterprises; and (3) The heterogeneity analysis showed that, in the IPD area, the non-state-owned enterprises and family businesses, as well as the ones in high digital level or high marketization indices places, are sensitive to IP protection policies and improve more in ESG performance ratings. This study has not only verified the positive impact of IP protection policies and IPD on ESG performance but also further confirmed the significant role of IPD in green innovation performance and its fluency. In addition, it will provide essential insights for the efficient promotion of IPD, the realization of enterprises′ ESG value, and the revitalization of our future industrial economy.

Key words:  intellectual property demonstration area, green innovation performance, green innovation fluency, corporate ESG performance