Does Adaptive Climate Governance Enhance Corporate Resilience? Evidence From China's Listed Firms

ABSTRACT Mitigation and adaptation are equally critical for addressing climate change. However, limited attention has been paid to adaptation strategies, particularly the micro‐level effects of climate‐adaptive governance actions. Drawing on the natural‐resource‐based view, the contingent resource‐based view, and dynamic capability theory, this study constructs a firm‐level climate adaptation strategy from a resilience perspective. Using panel data from Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2023, the Climate‐Adaptive City Pilot (CACP) policy is employed as a quasi‐natural experiment, and a difference‐in‐differences model is applied to assess the impact of climate‐adaptive governance actions on corporate resilience (CR). The results demonstrate that the CACP significantly enhances CR. Mechanism analyses reveal that this effect operates through the optimization of the urban infrastructure, the enhancement of corporate climate risk disclosure, and the fostering of corporate innovation in climate adaptation technologies. Further analysis indicates that improved CR significantly promotes long‐term corporate investment. These findings provide critical insights for implementing climate‐adaptive governance strategies and policies aimed at enhancing CR.