IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/iubhbm/323240.html

Impact of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) practices in Bulgarian SMEs access to finance

Author

Listed:
  • Manolov, Mladen
  • Berrones-Flemmig, Claudia Nelly

Abstract

Given the European Union's commitments of achieving net zero by 2050 and advocating Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) targets, ESG is having an increasingly larger impact on businesses (Alamillos & De Mariz, 2022). Various studies have concluded that if a company has a high ESG score, it typically borrows at a cheaper rate, receives more favorable credit terms and conditions, has higher valuation, achieves better financial performance, as well as other benefits relating to its access to finance (Jang et al., 2020; Srivastava et al., 2022; Albuquerque et al., 2019; Friede et al. 2015). The same studies focus, however, predominantly on large companies in developed economies. On the other hand, the issue of the financing gap in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) is experienced globally and especially in developing economies (World Bank, 2019; PwC, 2021). Given the positive impact of ESG on companies access to finance as found in existing literature and the presence of the SME finance gap in developing economies, this research investigates the impact of ESG practices on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises access to finance in the context of Bulgaria. An overview of current and planned ESG-related European Union regulations impacting SMEs is provided. With a focus on Bulgarian SMEs, a total of 27 experts in the fields of banking, venture capital, angel investing, SME ownership or management, and ESG consulting were interviewed. This study adds to the limited body of research pertaining to the impact of ESG on SMEs financing in a developing economy setting. The research concluded that Bulgarian SMEs engaged in ESG have better debt and equity financing terms, more opportunities and dedicated channels for receiving financing, as well as benefits adding to their competitiveness, such as better access to international supply chains, reduced firm risk, tax exemptions, ability to attract and retain top talent, and higher potential for top line growth, among others.

Suggested Citation

  • Manolov, Mladen & Berrones-Flemmig, Claudia Nelly, 2025. "Impact of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) practices in Bulgarian SMEs access to finance," IU Discussion Papers - Business & Management 6 (July 2025), IU International University of Applied Sciences.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:iubhbm:323240
    DOI: 10.56250/4070
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/323240/1/1932242821.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.56250/4070?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. Srivastava, Jagriti & Sampath, Aravind & Gopalakrishnan, Balagopal, 2022. "Is ESG the key to unlock debt financing during the COVID-19 pandemic? International evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    2. 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. Ferdaous Zouaghi & Teresa Garcia‐Marco & Marian Garcia Martinez, 2024. "Navigating firm financial distress in turbulent times: The impact of the institutional context," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8037-8054, December.
    2. Huang, Jun & Li, Yun & Han, Feifei, 2024. "Walk well and talk well: Impact of the consistency of ESG performance and disclosure on firms’ stock price crash risk," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 1154-1174.
    3. Xueyan Dong & Jingyu Gao & Sunny Li Sun & Kangtao Ye, 2021. "Doing extreme by doing good," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 291-315, March.
    4. Jongmoo Jay Choi & Hoje Jo & Jimi Kim & Moo Sung Kim, 2018. "Business Groups and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 931-954, December.
    5. Leon Zolotoy & Don O’Sullivan & Keke Song, 2021. "The Role of Ethical Standards in the Relationship Between Religious Social Norms and M&A Announcement Returns," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 721-742, May.
    6. Misra, Shekhar & Mishra, Saurabh, 2026. "Environmental, social, and governance performances, media sentiments, and shareholder wealth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    7. Zhu, Bo & Wang, Yiwei, 2024. "Green governance and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    8. repec:rjr:romjef:v::y:2025:i:3:p:5-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Gary M. Fleischman & Eric N. Johnson & Kenton B. Walker & Sean R. Valentine, 2019. "Ethics Versus Outcomes: Managerial Responses to Incentive-Driven and Goal-Induced Employee Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(4), pages 951-967, September.
    10. Tuo, Ling & Rezaee, Zabihollah & Gao, Lei, 2024. "Is there a tradeoff between management earnings forecasts and sustainability reporting?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    11. Nuttavuth Nundhapana & Chiraphol N. Chiyachantana & David K. Ding & Sirimon Treepongkaruna, 2024. "Social network centrality and the corporate environment: The case of sexual diversity policies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4085-4100, September.
    12. Yuanyuan Zhang & Zhe Ouyang, 2021. "Doing well by doing good: How corporate environmental responsibility influences corporate financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 54-63, January.
    13. Fathi Alarabi Yosef & Luay Jum’a & Muntasir Alatoom, 2023. "Identifying and Categorizing Sustainable Supply Chain Practices Based on Triple Bottom Line Dimensions: Evaluation of Practice Implementation in the Cement Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-22, April.
    14. Muhammad Suhail Rizwan & Asifa Obaid & Dawood Ashraf, 2017. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Default Risk: Empirical evidence from US Firms," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(3), pages 36-70, September.
    15. Simone Pizzi, 2018. "The Relationship between Non-financial Reporting, Environmental Strategies and Financial Performance. Empirical Evidence from Milano Stock Exchange," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-9, November.
    16. Amrou Awaysheh & Randall A. Heron & Tod Perry & Jared I. Wilson, 2020. "On the relation between corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 965-987, June.
    17. Will, Matthias Georg & Hielscher, Stefan, 2013. "How do companies invest in corporate social responsibility? An ordonomic contribution for empirical CSR research," Discussion Papers 2013-3, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    18. Joel T. Harper & Li Sun, 2025. "Asset redeployability and corporate social responsibility," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 1595-1631, May.
    19. Serhii Kanyhin & Svitlana Achkasova & Viktoriia Tyschenko & Vlada Karpova & Oleksii Naidenko, 2025. "Bankruptcy Risks Assessment: A Comprehensive Review of Qualitative Indicators," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 22-44.
    20. Yu-Muo Lee & Jin-Li Hu, 2018. "Integrated Approaches for Business Sustainability: The Perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, July.
    21. Lei Lei & Di Zheng & XuDong Chen, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate financialization—Based on information effect and reputation insurance effect," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(7), pages 1-18, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics
    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:iubhbm:323240. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.iu.de/forschung/ .

    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.