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Corporate Sustainability and Capital Costs: A Panel Evidence from BRICS Countries

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  • Jyoti Dua
  • Anil Kumar Sharma

Abstract

Global sustainability challenges have triggered a sense of accountability in society, culminating in the growing incorporation of sustainability into corporate operations. This article aims to investigate the influence of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure on a company’s cost of financing in emerging markets. Furthermore, the article examines the criticality of separate pillars of ESG in determining the companies’ capital costs using a panel dataset of 192 non-financial companies drawn from the equity indices from the BRICS countries for 10 years, spanning 2011–2020. Pooled Ordinary Least Square and fixed-effect panel regressions are used to test the hypothesised relationships. The robustness of our findings is validated by the application of the System Generalised Methods of Moments approach. The results show that ESG disclosure scores and their individual component scores are positively associated with the cost of equity and weighted average cost of capital. In contrast, there is a negative relationship with the cost of debt. Results demonstrate the apprehensions of equity providers and the reception of debt providers towards the companies’ ESG adoption. The governance pillar has the most significant influence on capital costs. The study enables managers to evaluate the economically ideal capital structure for ESG-compliant enterprises strategically.

Suggested Citation

  • Jyoti Dua & Anil Kumar Sharma, 2024. "Corporate Sustainability and Capital Costs: A Panel Evidence from BRICS Countries," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 17(1), pages 77-101, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ijcgvn:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:77-101
    DOI: 10.1177/09746862241240368
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    2. Mohapatra, Swati & Kumar, Ashish & Mohapatra, Malaya Ranjan & Srivastava, Vikas, 2025. "Does CEO duality moderate environmental, social, and governance performance-earnings management relationship? Evidence from emerging markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

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