IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i22p15943-d1280100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovating ESG Integration as Sustainable Strategy: ESG Transparency and Firm Valuation in the Palm Oil Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Tricia Chong

    (NUS College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117575, Singapore)

  • Lawrence Loh

    (Centre for Governance and Sustainability, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, 1 Business Link, Singapore 117592, Singapore
    Department of Strategy and Policy, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, 15 Kent Ridge Drive, Singapore 119245, Singapore)

Abstract

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) integration is an increasingly popular and innovative investing strategy that requires companies to be transparent about their ESG practices to facilitate investors’ decisions. In the palm oil sector, companies are addressing ESG risks by adopting and disclosing ESG efforts to improve access to financing. This study seeks to broaden existing research on ESG transparency and firms’ financial indicators by using firm valuation as a financial indicator and investigating the moderating role of firm size in the palm oil sector. It first investigates whether ESG transparency has a direct positive or negative effect on firm valuation. Transparency is measured using the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Sustainability Policy Transparency Toolkit (SPOTT) 2021 assessment, which provides scores for palm oil companies’ total, environmental, social, and governance disclosures. Firm valuation is measured by the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), a widely used ratio calculated by dividing the share price by earnings per share. The study also explores the moderating role of firm size, using accounting-based measures such as revenue and assets, in strengthening the relationship between ESG transparency and firm valuation. The results show statistically significant negative relationships between ESG transparency and firm valuation. Companies with stronger ESG transparency are valued at a discount relative to companies with weaker ESG transparency. Additionally, the results find that firm size plays a moderating role such that larger firms strengthen the negative relationships between all transparency measures and firm valuation. These findings encourage constructive action for various stakeholders and provide implications for future research to support mainstreaming sustainable palm oil.

Suggested Citation

  • Tricia Chong & Lawrence Loh, 2023. "Innovating ESG Integration as Sustainable Strategy: ESG Transparency and Firm Valuation in the Palm Oil Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-36, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:15943-:d:1280100
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/15943/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/15943/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    2. Haniffa, R.M. & Cooke, T.E., 2005. "The impact of culture and governance on corporate social reporting," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 391-430.
    3. Paul C. Godfrey & Nile W. Hatch, 2007. "Researching Corporate Social Responsibility: An Agenda for the 21st Century," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(1), pages 87-98, January.
    4. repec:eme:mfppss:mf-08-2017-0303 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Mohammed Benlemlih & Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2018. "Environmental and Social Disclosures and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 613-626, October.
    6. Rafaela Gjergji & Luigi Vena & Salvatore Sciascia & Alessandro Cortesi, 2021. "The effects of environmental, social and governance disclosure on the cost of capital in small and medium enterprises: The role of family business status," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 683-693, January.
    7. Philipp Krueger & Zacharias Sautner & Dragon Yongjun Tang & Rui Zhong, 2021. "The Effects of Mandatory ESG Disclosure Around the World," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 21-44, Swiss Finance Institute.
    8. Pu Shen, 2000. "The P/E ratio and stock market performance," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, vol. 85(Q IV), pages 23-36.
    9. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan & Barbara Van Velthoven, 2005. "Environmental disclosure quality in large German companies: Economic incentives, public pressures or institutional conditions?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 3-39.
    10. Dang, Chongyu & (Frank) Li, Zhichuan & Yang, Chen, 2018. "Measuring firm size in empirical corporate finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 159-176.
    11. Won Oh & Young Chang & Aleksey Martynov, 2011. "The Effect of Ownership Structure on Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 283-297, December.
    12. Basu, S, 1977. "Investment Performance of Common Stocks in Relation to Their Price-Earnings Ratios: A Test of the Efficient Market Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(3), pages 663-682, June.
    13. Hong Yuh Ching & Fábio Gerab, 2017. "Sustainability reports in Brazil through the lens of signaling, legitimacy and stakeholder theories," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 95-110, March.
    14. Tseng, Kuo C, 1988. "Low Price, Price-Earnings Ratio, Market Value, and Abnormal Stock Returns," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 23(3), pages 333-343, August.
    15. Herremans, Irene M. & Akathaporn, Parporn & McInnes, Morris, 1993. "An investigation of corporate social responsibility reputation and economic performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(7-8), pages 587-604.
    16. Krishna Udayasankar, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 167-175, December.
    17. 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)

    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. 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.
    2. Francesca Gennari, 2019. "How to Lead the Board of Directors to a Sustainable Development of Business with the CSR Committees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Kansal, Monika & Joshi, Mahesh & Batra, Gurdip Singh, 2014. "Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosures: Evidence from India," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 217-229.
    4. Rupjyoti Saha & K. C. Kabra, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure: A Synthesis of Empirical Studies," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 117-138, July.
    5. Aditya Pandu Wicaksono & Doddy Setiawan, 2024. "Impacts of stakeholder pressure on water disclosure within Asian mining companies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 6493-6515, March.
    6. Raiswa Saha & Shashi & Roberto Cerchione & Rajwinder Singh & Richa Dahiya, 2020. "Effect of ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility on firm performance: A systematic review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 409-429, March.
    7. Nazim Hussain, 2015. "Impact of Sustainability Performance on Financial Performance: An Empirical Study of Global Fortune (N100) Firms," Working Papers 1, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    8. Waris Ali & Maha Faisal Alsayegh & Zubair Ahmad & Zeeshan Mahmood & Javed Iqbal, 2018. "The Relationship between Social Visibility and CSR Disclosure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-32, March.
    9. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure in Developed and Developing Countries: A Literature Review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 273-294, July.
    10. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas, 2018. "The Role of Normative CSR‐Promoting Institutions in Stimulating CSR Disclosures in Developing Countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 373-390, July.
    11. Grougiou, Vassiliki & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Leventis, Stergios, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Organizational Stigma: The Case of “Sin” Industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 905-914.
    12. Asuman Erben Yavuz & Bade Ekim Kocaman & Mesut Doğan & Adalet Hazar & Şenol Babuşcu & Raikhan Sutbayeva, 2024. "The Impact of Corporate Governance on Sustainability Disclosures: A Comparison from the Perspective of Financial and Non-Financial Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-21, September.
    13. Ann Terlaak & Seonghoon Kim & Taewoo Roh, 2018. "Not Good, Not Bad: The Effect of Family Control on Environmental Performance Disclosure by Business Group Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 977-996, December.
    14. Fabrizio Rossi & Maretno Agus Harjoto, 2020. "Corporate non-financial disclosure, firm value, risk, and agency costs: evidence from Italian listed companies," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 1149-1181, October.
    15. Ouidad Yousfi & Nadia Loukil, 2024. "Environmental laws in France: What are the effects of the Grenelle laws on firms?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 347-389, June.
    16. Mehmoona Sharif & Kashif Rashid, 2014. "Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting: an empirical evidence from commercial banks (CB) of Pakistan," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2501-2521, September.
    17. Kiyoung Chang & Incheol Kim & Ying Li, 2014. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities That Target Different Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 211-234, December.
    18. Xiuli Sun & Cui Zhou & Zhuojiong Gan, 2023. "Green Finance Policy and ESG Performance: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-27, April.
    19. Yaghoub Abdi & Xiaoni Li & Xavier Càmara‐Turull, 2022. "How financial performance influences investment in sustainable development initiatives in the airline industry: The moderation role of state‐ownership," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1252-1267, October.
    20. Yuan Yuan & Louise Yi Lu & Gaoliang Tian & Yangxin Yu, 2020. "Business Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 359-377, March.

    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:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:15943-:d:1280100. 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.