IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v18y2025i7p377-d1696242.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Sustainability Pay Off? Examining Governance, Performance, and Debt Costs in Southeast Asian Companies (A Survey of Public Companies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand for the 2021–2023 Period)

Author

Listed:
  • Fransisca Fransisca

    (Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung 40132, Indonesia)

  • Arie Pratama

    (Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung 40132, Indonesia)

  • Kamaruzzaman Muhammad

    (Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Selangor, Puncak Alam 42300, Malaysia)

Abstract

Sustainability performance is an important criterion for investors and lenders when making financing decisions. This study aims to analyze whether sustainability governance influences sustainability performance and the extent to which sustainability performance affects a company’s cost of debt. This study analyzed 209 publicly listed companies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Sustainability governance was measured using two proxies from the Refinitiv Eikon database: (1) the existence of a sustainability committee and (2) the existence of sustainability assurance. Sustainability performance and the cost of debt were assessed using scores obtained from the same database. Quantitative analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and structural equation modeling (SEM) with path analysis. The results showed that sustainability governance has a strong positive impact on sustainability performance. However, the results also show that higher sustainability performance leads to a higher cost of debt. This finding suggests that companies that integrate sustainability into their core business strategies face challenges in obtaining funding to support sustainability initiatives. This research implies that a well-developed sustainable ecosystem needs to be established before companies can realize a lower cost of debt.

Suggested Citation

  • Fransisca Fransisca & Arie Pratama & Kamaruzzaman Muhammad, 2025. "Does Sustainability Pay Off? Examining Governance, Performance, and Debt Costs in Southeast Asian Companies (A Survey of Public Companies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand for the 2021–2," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:377-:d:1696242
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/7/377/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/7/377/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tiago Cruz Gonçalves & João Dias & Victor Barros, 2022. "Sustainability Performance and the Cost of Capital," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-32, August.
    2. Dina Azhgaliyeva & Anant Kapoor & Yang Liu, 2020. "Green bonds for financing renewable energy and energy efficiency in South-East Asia: a review of policies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 113-140, April.
    3. Guo, Kun & Bian, Yuan & Zhang, Dayong & Ji, Qiang, 2024. "ESG performance and corporate external financing in China: The role of rating disagreement," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Liu, Xiangqiang & Yang, Qingqing & Wei, Kai & Dai, Peng-Fei, 2024. "ESG rating disagreement and idiosyncratic return volatility: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    2. Li, Zhanli & Yang, Zichao, 2025. "ESG rating disagreement and corporate Total Factor Productivity: Inference and prediction," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Ha, Le Thanh & Bouteska, Ahmed & Sharif, Taimur & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul, 2024. "Dynamic interlinkages between carbon risk and volatility of green and renewable energy: A TVP-VAR analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Shah, Syed Sumair & Murodova, Gulnora & Khan, Anwar, 2025. "Contribution of green bonds and green growth in clean energy capacity under the moderating role of political stability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    5. Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Farid, Saqib & Ferrer, Román & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain, 2021. "Comparative efficiency of green and conventional bonds pre- and during COVID-19: An asymmetric multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    6. Taskin, Dilvin & Dogan, Eyup & Madaleno, Mara, 2022. "Analyzing the relationship between energy efficiency and environmental and financial variables: A way towards sustainable development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    7. Biqing Li & Qiuting Liu & Yuming Li & Shiyong Zheng, 2023. "Socioeconomic Productive Capacity and Renewable Energy Development: Empirical Insights from BRICS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Li, Zeyun & Kuo, Tsung-Hsien & Siao-Yun, Wei & The Vinh, Luu, 2022. "Role of green finance, volatility and risk in promoting the investments in Renewable Energy Resources in the post-covid-19," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Lei Ai & Fengying Wang & Lei Tan, 2025. "Can green credit policy restrict the cross-region investment of heavy-polluting enterprises? Evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 3873-3897, February.
    10. Zhang, Yao & Zhang, Yuxin & Gong, Chao & Dinçer, Hasan & Yüksel, Serhat, 2022. "An integrated hesitant 2-tuple Pythagorean fuzzy analysis of QFD-based innovation cost and duration for renewable energy projects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    11. Anh Huu Nguyen & Thinh Gia Hoang & Duy Thanh Nguyen & Loan Quynh Thi Nguyen & Duong Thuy Doan, 2023. "The Development of Green Bond in Developing Countries: Insights from Southeast Asia Market Participants," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(1), pages 196-218, February.
    12. Muntasir Murshed & A. K. M. Atiqur Rahman, 2025. "The importance of settling geopolitical disputes in neutralizing the carbon curse of natural resources: evidence from South and Southeast Asia," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 38(1), pages 143-158, March.
    13. Abbas, Jawad & Wang, Lisu & Ben Belgacem, Samira & Pawar, Puja Sunil & Najam, Hina & Abbas, Jaffar, 2023. "Investment in renewable energy and electricity output: Role of green finance, environmental tax, and geopolitical risk: Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    14. Sun, Zhennan & Du, Qunyang & Du, Anna Min & Li, Zhongyuan & Yang, Tianle, 2024. "The information environment and ecological environment perspectives: Capital market openness and firm ESG rating divergence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    15. Jyotirani Gupta & Niladri Das, 2024. "Navigating the trade‐off between corporate social responsibility disclosure and the cost of financing: Evidence from BRICS economies," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(4), pages 1927-1943, June.
    16. Dina Azhgaliyeva & Dil Rahut, 2022. "Promoting Green Buildings: Barriers, Solutions, and Policies," ADBI Working Papers 1331, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    17. Yasir Ahmed Solangi & Rakan Alyamani & Muhammad Asghar & Sharafat Ali & Cosimo Magazzino, 2025. "The Impact of Social Investment and Green Finance on Sustainable Development: Evidence From Emerging Market Economies," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 4366-4379, June.
    18. Chang, Lei & Moldir, Mukan & Zhang, Yuan & Nazar, Raima, 2023. "Asymmetric impact of green bonds on energy efficiency: Fresh evidence from quantile estimation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    19. Cheng, Louis T.W. & Cheong, Tsun Se & Wojewodzki, Michal & Chui, David, 2025. "The effect of ESG divergence on the financial performance of Hong Kong-listed firms: An artificial neural network approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    20. Chien, FengSheng & Vu, Trong Lam & Hien Phan, Thi Thu & Van Nguyen, Sang & Viet Anh, Nguyen Ho & Ngo, Thanh Quang, 2023. "Zero-carbon energy transition in ASEAN countries: The role of carbon finance, carbon taxes, and sustainable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 561-569.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:377-:d:1696242. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.