IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v24y2015i4p277-288.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Development and Corporate Financial Performance: A Study Based on the FTSE4Good IBEX Index

Author

Listed:
  • Maria J. Charlo
  • Ismael Moya
  • Ana M. Muñoz

Abstract

The social and environmental aspects of business investment and financing are becoming increasingly important. Most studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) focus on analysing the relationship between company performance in the financial and social fields. However, the results obtained have not been conclusive, mainly due to the variables used to measure CSR. In order to simplify its measurement, in this work we used an empirical analytical method to determine possible differences between the financial variables of firms considered to be socially responsible and those not considered to be such. The results obtained show that socially responsible corporations obtain higher profits for the same level of systematic risk and show greater sensitivity to market changes, leverage levels and company size. This pioneering study is the first to make use of the first, and at the present time only, Spanish sustainability index, the FTSE4Good IBEX. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria J. Charlo & Ismael Moya & Ana M. Muñoz, 2015. "Sustainable Development and Corporate Financial Performance: A Study Based on the FTSE4Good IBEX Index," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 277-288, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:24:y:2015:i:4:p:277-288
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.1824
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1824
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.1824?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Stephen Brammer & Chris Brooks & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Social Performance and Stock Returns: UK Evidence from Disaggregate Measures," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 35(3), Autumn.
    3. Salzmann, Oliver & Ionescu-somers, Aileen & Steger, Ulrich, 2005. "The Business Case for Corporate Sustainability:: Literature Review and Research Options," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 27-36, February.
    4. Supriti Mishra & Damodar Suar, 2010. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Firm Performance of Indian Companies?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 571-601, September.
    5. Gerwin Laan & Hans Ees & Arjen Witteloostuijn, 2008. "Corporate Social and Financial Performance: An Extended Stakeholder Theory, and Empirical Test with Accounting Measures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 79(3), pages 299-310, May.
    6. Roberto Garcia-Castro & Miguel Ariño & Miguel Canela, 2010. "Does Social Performance Really Lead to Financial Performance? Accounting for Endogeneity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 107-126, March.
    7. Giovanna Michelon & Giacomo Boesso & Kamalesh Kumar, 2013. "Examining the Link between Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Company Performance: An Analysis of the Best Corporate Citizens," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 81-94, March.
    8. Brent Kurapatskie & Nicole Darnall, 2013. "Which Corporate Sustainability Activities are Associated with Greater Financial Payoffs?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 49-61, January.
    9. Zhi Tang & Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg, 2012. "How Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Strategy Moderates the CSR–Financial Performance Relationship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7), pages 1274-1303, November.
    10. Anis Ben Brik & Belaid Rettab & Kamel Mellahi, 2011. "Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Business Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 307-324, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Karime Chahuán-Jiménez, 2020. "Correlation between the DJSI Chile and the Financial Indices of Chilean Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-14, November.
    2. María Mar Miralles-Quirós & José Luis Miralles-Quirós & Luis Miguel Valente Gonçalves, 2018. "The Value Relevance of Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance: The Brazilian Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Xing Chen & Bert Scholtens, 2018. "The urge to act: A comparison of active and passive socially responsible investment funds in the United States," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1154-1173, November.
    4. Daniel C. Khajenouri & Jacob H. Schmidt, 2021. "Standard or Sustainable - Which Offers Better Performance for the Passive Investor?," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(1), pages 1-4.
    5. Claudia Kitsikopoulos & Ute Schwaibold & Douglas Taylor, 2018. "Limited progress in sustainable development: Factors influencing the environmental management and reporting of South African JSE‐listed companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1295-1301, December.
    6. Obey Dzomonda & Olawale Fatoki, 2020. "Environmental Sustainability Commitment and Financial Performance of Firms Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-21, October.
    7. Stacy H.N. Lee & Jung Ha‐Brookshire & Pui‐Sze Chow, 2018. "The moral responsibility of corporate sustainability as perceived by fashion retail employees: a USA‐China cross‐cultural comparison study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1462-1475, December.
    8. Borja Diez-Cañamero & Tania Bishara & Jose Ramon Otegi-Olaso & Rikardo Minguez & José María Fernández, 2020. "Measurement of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Corporate Sustainability Indexes, Rankings and Ratings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-36, March.
    9. Jannik Gerwanski & Othar Kordsachia & Patrick Velte, 2019. "Determinants of materiality disclosure quality in integrated reporting: Empirical evidence from an international setting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 750-770, July.
    10. Carlos Lassala & Andreea Apetrei & Juan Sapena, 2017. "Sustainability Matter and Financial Performance of Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, August.
    11. Iván Arribas & María Dolores Espinós-Vañó & Fernando García & Paula Beatriz Morales-Bañuelos, 2019. "The Inclusion of Socially Irresponsible Companies in Sustainable Stock Indices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-14, April.
    12. Sun, Yang & Garrett, Tony C. & Phau, Ian & Zheng, Bing, 2020. "Case-based models of customer-perceived sustainable marketing and its effect on perceived customer equity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 615-622.
    13. Ruy de Castro Sobrosa Neto & Carlos Rogério Montenegro de Lima & Daniel Goulart Bazil & Manoela de Oliveira Veras & José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, 2020. "Sustainable development and corporate financial performance: A study based on the Brazilian Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE)," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 960-977, July.
    14. Mª Eugenia López‐Pérez & Iguácel Melero & F Javier Sese, 2017. "Management for Sustainable Development and Its Impact on Firm Value in the SME Context: Does Size Matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 985-999, November.
    15. Jay Joseph & Marc Orlitzky & Bruce Gurd & Helen Borland & Adam Lindgreen, 2019. "Can business‐oriented managers be effective leaders for corporate sustainability? A study of integrative and instrumental logics," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 339-352, February.
    16. David Schüller & Karel Doubravský, 2019. "Fuzzy Similarity Used by Micro-Enterprises in Marketing Communication for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-15, September.
    17. Ramiz ur Rehman & Muhammad Zain ul Abidin & Rizwan Ali & Safwan Mohd Nor & Muhammad Akram Naseem & Mudassar Hasan & Muhammad Ishfaq Ahmad, 2021. "The Integration of Conventional Equity Indices with Environmental, Social, and Governance Indices: Evidence from Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-27, January.
    18. Chai Bin Feng & Muhammad Usman Khurram & Raheel Safdar & Sultan Sikandar Mirza & Amjad Iqbal, 2023. "Corporate strategic responses, supplier concentration and sustainable growth of chinese listed firms," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1413-1427, September.
    19. Riikka Sievänen & Hannu Rita & Bert Scholtens, 2017. "European Pension Funds and Sustainable Development: Trade‐Offs between Finance and Responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 912-926, November.
    20. Begüm Güler & Füsun Küçükbay, 2022. "Does Inclusion in the Sustainability Index Contribute to the Financial Performance of the Companies: Evidence from Developing Countries," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 66(66), pages 307-317, December.
    21. Mansi Jain & Gagan Deep Sharma & Mrinalini Srivastava, 2019. "Can Sustainable Investment Yield Better Financial Returns: A Comparative Study of ESG Indices and MSCI Indices," Risks, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, February.
    22. Ayşe İrem Keskin & Banu Dincer & Caner Dincer, 2020. "Exploring the Impact of Sustainability on Corporate Financial Performance Using Discriminant Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, March.
    23. Li, Xinlan & Li, Changhong & Guo, Xiaoli, 2023. "Environmental practices, family control, and corporate performance: Evidence from Chinese family firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    24. Felipe Arias Fogliano de Souza Cunha & Erick Meira de Oliveira & Renato J. Orsato & Marcelo Cabus Klotzle & Fernando Luiz Cyrino Oliveira & Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado, 2020. "Can sustainable investments outperform traditional benchmarks? Evidence from global stock markets," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 682-697, February.
    25. Brzeszczyński, Janusz & Gajdka, Jerzy & Schabek, Tomasz, 2021. "How risky are the socially responsible investment (SRI) stocks? Evidence from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. José M. Brotons & Manuel E. Sansalvador, 2020. "The relation between corporate social responsibility certification and financial performance: An empirical study in Spain," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1465-1477, May.
    2. Hajer Tebini & Bouchra M’Zali & Pascal Lang & Paz Méndez-Rodrı́guez, 2015. "Social Performance and Financial Performance: A Controversial Relationship," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Enrique Ballestero & Blanca Pérez-Gladish & Ana Garcia-Bernabeu (ed.), Socially Responsible Investment, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 53-73, Springer.
    3. Renáta Myšková & Petr Hájek, 2018. "Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Text of Annual Reports—The Case of the IT Services Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    4. Francisco J. López-Arceiz & Ana J. Bellostas & Pilar Rivera, 2018. "Twenty Years of Research on the Relationship Between Economic and Social Performance: A Meta-analysis Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 453-484, November.
    5. Emmanuel Lawal & Gökan May & Bojan Stahl, 2017. "The Significance of Corporate Social Disclosure for High‐Tech Manufacturing Companies: Focus on Employee and Community Aspects of Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 295-311, July.
    6. Carlos Lassala & Andreea Apetrei & Juan Sapena, 2017. "Sustainability Matter and Financial Performance of Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Woon Leong Lin & Siong Hook Law & W. N. W. Azman‐Saini, 2020. "Market differentiation threshold and the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1279-1293, May.
    8. Lin, Woon Leong & Law, Siong Hook & Ho, Jo Ann & Sambasivan, Murali, 2019. "The causality direction of the corporate social responsibility – Corporate financial performance Nexus: Application of Panel Vector Autoregression approach," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 401-418.
    9. Nazim Hussain & Ugo Rigoni & Elisa Cavezzali, 2018. "Does it pay to be sustainable? Looking inside the black box of the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1198-1211, November.
    10. Yang, Yang & Jiang, Yan, 2023. "Buyer-supplier CSR alignment and firm performance: A contingency theory perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    11. Atan, Ruhaya & Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Said, Jamaliah & Zamri, Mohamed, 2019. "The Impacts of Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors on Firm Performance: Panel Study of Malaysian Companies," SocArXiv ntz52, Center for Open Science.
    12. Franck Brulhart & Sandrine Gherra & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2019. "Do Stakeholder Orientation and Environmental Proactivity Impact Firm Profitability?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 25-46, August.
    13. Patricia Crifo & Elena Escrig-Olmedo & Nicolas Mottis, 2019. "Corporate Governance as a Key Driver of Corporate Sustainability in France: The Role of Board Members and Investor Relations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1127-1146, November.
    14. Carmen Pilar Marti & M. Rosa Rovira‐Val & Lisa G. J. Drescher, 2015. "Are Firms that Contribute to Sustainable Development Better Financially?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(5), pages 305-319, September.
    15. Koustubh Kanti Ray & Subrat Kumar Mitra, 2018. "Firm’s Financial Performance and Sustainability Efforts: Application of Classifier Models," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 19(3), pages 722-736, June.
    16. Wójcik Piotr, 2018. "The business case for corporate social responsibility: A literature overview and integrative framework," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 121-148, March.
    17. Boonlert Jitmaneeroj, 2024. "Value relevance of multifaceted corporate social performance: how do country-specific factors matter?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    18. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W. Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2022. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Enhance Financial Performance? Evidence from Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(1), pages 5-18, March.
    19. Carmelo Reverte, 2012. "The Impact of Better Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on the Cost of Equity Capital," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(5), pages 253-272, September.
    20. Elizabeth-Anne Thomas, 2019. "How Useful Is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Reporting Framework to Identify the Non-financial Value of Corporate Social Performance (CSP)?," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Nicholas Capaldi & Samuel O. Idowu & René Schmidpeter & Martin Brueckner (ed.), Responsible Business in Uncertain Times and for a Sustainable Future, pages 37-87, Springer.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:24:y:2015:i:4:p:277-288. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.