IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v41y2020i5p710-729.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental, social and governance initiatives and wealth creation for firms: An empirical examination

Author

Listed:
  • Rajesh Kumar Bhaskaran
  • Irene Wei Kiong Ting
  • Sujit K. Sukumaran
  • Saraswathy Divakaran Sumod

Abstract

This study examines the effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities on firm performance of 4,887 global companies. Mean difference test shows that firms with a high level of ESG activities are different from their low‐ESG counterparts. The two‐stage least square results suggest that ESG activities on (a) the welfare for internal stakeholders and best corporate governance practices are beneficial for firm performance and (b) antitakeover mechanisms (pollution control) adopted by firms are negatively (positively) valued by market players. Overall, this is the first study to examine the effects of ESG on the market‐based and accounting‐based performance of global firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajesh Kumar Bhaskaran & Irene Wei Kiong Ting & Sujit K. Sukumaran & Saraswathy Divakaran Sumod, 2020. "Environmental, social and governance initiatives and wealth creation for firms: An empirical examination," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(5), pages 710-729, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:41:y:2020:i:5:p:710-729
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.3131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.3131
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.3131?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. Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg, 2008. "Firm performance: the interactions of corporate social performance with innovation and industry differentiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7), pages 781-789, July.
    3. Ki‐Hoon Lee & Beom Cheol Cin & Eui Young Lee, 2016. "Environmental Responsibility and Firm Performance: The Application of an Environmental, Social and Governance Model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 40-53, January.
    4. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    5. Branco, Manuel Castelo & Rodrigues, Lúcia Lima, 2008. "Social responsibility disclosure: A study of proxies for the public visibility of Portuguese banks," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 161-181.
    6. Gunnar Friede & Timo Busch & Alexander Bassen, 2015. "ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 210-233, October.
    7. Zvi Griliches, 1984. "R&D, Patents, and Productivity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril84-1, March.
    8. Himmelberg, Charles P. & Hubbard, R. Glenn & Palia, Darius, 1999. "Understanding the determinants of managerial ownership and the link between ownership and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 353-384, September.
    9. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Productivity Growth and R&D at the Business Level: Results from the PIMS Data Base," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 134-156, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Marcus Wagner & Stefan Schaltegger, 2004. "The Effect of Corporate Environmental Strategy Choice and Environmental Performance on Competitiveness and Economic Performance," Post-Print hal-00279008, HAL.
    11. Alexander Dahlsrud, 2008. "How corporate social responsibility is defined: an analysis of 37 definitions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, January.
    12. 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.
    13. Saeidi, Sayedeh Parastoo & Sofian, Saudah & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Saeidi, Sayyedeh Parisa & Saaeidi, Seyyed Alireza, 2015. "How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 341-350.
    14. Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2016. "Board Attributes, Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy, and Corporate Environmental and Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 569-585, May.
    15. Luigi Zingales, 2000. "In Search of New Foundations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1623-1653, August.
    16. Richard K. Harper & Stephen C. Adams, 1996. "Cercla And Deep Pockets: Market Response To The Superfund Program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(1), pages 107-115, January.
    17. Trotman, Ken T. & Bradley, Graham W., 1981. "Associations between social responsibility disclosure and characteristics of companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 355-362, October.
    18. Abagail McWilliams & Donald Siegel, 2000. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 603-609, May.
    19. Galema, Rients & Plantinga, Auke & Scholtens, Bert, 2008. "The stocks at stake: Return and risk in socially responsible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 2646-2654, December.
    20. Changhong Zhao & Yu Guo & Jiahai Yuan & Mengya Wu & Daiyu Li & Yiou Zhou & Jiangang Kang, 2018. "ESG and Corporate Financial Performance: Empirical Evidence from China’s Listed Power Generation Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, July.
    21. Weber, Manuela, 2008. "The business case for corporate social responsibility: A company-level measurement approach for CSR," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 247-261, August.
    22. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    23. Cahan, Steven F. & Chen, Chen & Chen, Li & Nguyen, Nhut H., 2015. "Corporate social responsibility and media coverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 409-422.
    24. Chang, Chingfu & Lee, Alice C. & Lee, Cheng F., 2009. "Determinants of capital structure choice: A structural equation modeling approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 197-213, May.
    25. Murphy, Patrick E. & Schlegelmilch, Bodo B., 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate social irresponsibility: Introduction to a special topic section," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1807-1813.
    26. Jiao, Yawen, 2010. "Stakeholder welfare and firm value," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2549-2561, October.
    27. Markus Kitzmueller & Jay Shimshack, 2012. "Economic Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 51-84, March.
    28. Greg Filbeck & Raymond Gorman & Xin Zhao, 2009. "The “Best Corporate Citizens”: Are They Good for Their Shareholders?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 44(2), pages 239-262, May.
    29. Robert G. Eccles & Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2835-2857, November.
    30. Bindu Arya & Gaiyan Zhang, 2009. "Institutional Reforms and Investor Reactions to CSR Announcements: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7), pages 1089-1112, November.
    31. Lichtenberg, Frank R & Siegel, Donald, 1991. "The Impact of R&D Investment on Productivity--New Evidence Using Linked R&D-LRD Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(2), pages 203-229, April.
    32. Wagner, Marcus & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2004. "The Effect of Corporate Environmental Strategy Choice and Environmental Performance on Competitiveness and Economic Performance:: An Empirical Study of EU Manufacturing," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 557-572, October.
    33. Corinne Post & Noushi Rahman & Cathleen McQuillen, 2015. "From Board Composition to Corporate Environmental Performance Through Sustainability-Themed Alliances," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 423-435, August.
    34. Glen Dowell & Stuart Hart & Bernard Yeung, 2000. "Do Corporate Global Environmental Standards Create or Destroy Market Value?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(8), pages 1059-1074, August.
    35. Stephen Brammer & Andrew Millington, 2008. "Does it pay to be different? An analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(12), pages 1325-1343, December.
    36. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    37. Ellen Pei‐yi Yu & Christine Qian Guo & Bac Van Luu, 2018. "Environmental, social and governance transparency and firm value," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 987-1004, November.
    38. Jordi Surroca & Josep A. Tribó & Sandra Waddock, 2010. "Corporate responsibility and financial performance: the role of intangible resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 463-490, May.
    39. Baruch Lev & Christine Petrovits & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2010. "Is doing good good for you? how corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 182-200, February.
    40. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    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. Eleonora Santos & Inês Lisboa, 2022. "The Effects of Subsidies on MSW Treatment Companies: Financial Performance and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Ali Uyar & Simone Pizzi & Fabio Caputo & Cemil Kuzey & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2022. "Do shareholders reward or punish risky firms due to CSR reporting and assurance?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1596-1620, July.
    3. Pankaj C. Patel & Marcus T. Wolfe & Maria João Guedes, 2023. "The triple‐edged sword of sensitivity of sales, cash flows, and debt to investments: Venture survival and capital investments," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 473-489, January.
    4. Jin Zhu & Fei Huang, 2023. "Transformational Leadership, Organizational Innovation, and ESG Performance: Evidence from SMEs in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, March.
    5. Shaista Wasiuzzaman & Ali Uyar & Cemil Kuzey & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility: Is it a matter of slack financial resources or strategy or both?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2444-2466, September.
    6. Viktor P. Ivanitsk & Larisa D. Petrenko, 2020. "Development of responsible investment within the concept of sustainable finance," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 21(4), pages 63-78, December.
    7. Xiaodan Wu & Richard Amoasi, 2024. "The role of CSR in sustaining corporate brands in the global market: The perspective of telecommunication companies in Ghana," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 433-447, January.

    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. Eduardo Duque-Grisales & Javier Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021. "Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Scores and Financial Performance of Multilatinas: Moderating Effects of Geographic International Diversification and Financial Slack," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 315-334, January.
    2. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    3. Massimiliano Cerciello & Francesco Busato & Simone Taddeo, 2023. "The effect of sustainable business practices on profitability. Accounting for strategic disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 802-819, March.
    4. Ben Lahouel, Béchir & Ben Zaied, Younes & Managi, Shunsuke & Taleb, Lotfi, 2022. "Re-thinking about U: The relevance of regime-switching model in the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 498-519.
    5. Irene Wei Kiong Ting & Noor Azlinna Azizan & Rajesh Kumar Bhaskaran & Sujit K Sukumaran, 2019. "Corporate Social Performance and Firm Performance: Comparative Study among Developed and Emerging Market Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Veda Fatmy & John Kihn & Jukka Sihvonen & Sami Vähämaa, 2022. "Does lesbian and gay friendliness pay off? A new look at LGBT policies and firm performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 213-242, March.
    7. Saridakis, Charalampos & Angelidou, Sofia & Woodside, Arch G., 2023. "How historical and social aspirations reshape the relationship between corporate financial performance and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Encarna Guillamon-Saorin & Magdalena Kapelko & Spiro E. Stefanou, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Operational Inefficiency: A Dynamic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-26, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Samy Garas & Osama El-Temtamy, 2020. "The “simultaneous cycle” between corporate social responsibility and firms’ financial performance," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 39-50, September.
    11. Muhammad Azeem Qureshi & Minhas Akbar & Ahsan Akbar & Petra Poulova, 2021. "Do ESG Endeavors Assist Firms in Achieving Superior Financial Performance? A Case of 100 Best Corporate Citizens," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    12. Divya Anantharaman & Feng Gao & Hariom Manchiraju, 2022. "Does social responsibility begin at home? The relation between firms’ pension policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 76-121, March.
    13. 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.
    14. Juan Pineiro-Chousa & Noelia Romero-Castro & Marcos Vizcaíno-González, 2019. "Inclusions in and Exclusions from the S&P 500 Environmental and Socially Responsible Index: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-31, February.
    15. Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Shams, Syed & Pensiero, Domenico & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2019. "Socially responsible firms and mergers and acquisitions performance: Australian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    16. Jaime Guerrero‐Villegas & Laura Sierra‐García & Beatriz Palacios‐Florencio, 2018. "The role of sustainable development and innovation on firm performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1350-1362, November.
    17. Fatemi, Ali & Glaum, Martin & Kaiser, Stefanie, 2018. "ESG performance and firm value: The moderating role of disclosure," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 45-64.
    18. Marina Brogi & Antonella Cappiello & Valentina Lagasio & Fabrizio Santoboni, 2022. "Determinants of insurance companies' environmental, social, and governance awareness," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1357-1369, September.
    19. Weiwei Wu & Rizwan Ullah & Syed Jamal Shah, 2020. "Linking Corporate Environmental Performance to Financial Performance of Pakistani Firms: The Roles of Technological capability and Public awareness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Woon Leong Lin & Jo Ann Ho & Murali Sambasivan, 2018. "Impact of Corporate Political Activity on the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, December.

    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:wly:mgtdec:v:41:y:2020:i:5:p:710-729. 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://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    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.