Business sustainability performance and corporate financial performance: the mediating role of optimal investment

PurposeEmploying a large sample consisting of 3,701 corporations domiciled in developed and emerging countries, this paper aims to analyze the mediating role of investment efficiency in the association between business sustainability performance and corporate financial performance.Design/methodology/approachFour different aspects of corporate sustainability offered by the ASSET4 database are used as proxies for business sustainability performance, including economic, corporate governance, social and environmental dimensions. In addition to these aspects, the aggregate measure of business sustainability performance is also employed. In order to test the association between business sustainability and corporate performance via investment efficiency, ordinary least squares, fixed-effect, random-effect and generalized method of moments statistical models were employed.FindingsThe results suggest that business sustainability performance is positively associated with corporate financial performance, indicating that sustainable corporations enjoy higher financial performance. Moreover, Sobel, Aroian and Goodman tests confirm that investment efficiency mediates the positive relationship between business sustainability performance and financial performance. Finally, further analyses show that the positive association between sustainability performance and investment efficiency is stronger for those firms headquartered in developed countries than in those located in emerging nations.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature by investigating how growth opportunities advance the influence of business sustainability to corporate financial performance using a large sample from 43 countries.

Does ESG Reporting Relate to Corporate Financial Performance in the Context of the Energy Sector Transformation? Evidence from Poland

This paper aims to investigate whether the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) score of companies operating in the energy sector is associated with their corporate financial performance (CFP). The research covered data from eight companies with a dominant position in the Polish energy sector. The research used the comparative analysis between ESG performance and accounting-based measures of profitability: return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS). Additionally, reference was also made to the DuPont model. The acquired results do not reveal repetitive dependencies that would facilitate the discovery of a pattern of the impact of the factors of ESG on the financial performance of enterprises. Despite indicating the cases of correlations between the ESG scores and CFP at a high level, indeed sometimes at a very high level, the particular case studies significantly differ from each other. This may be caused by the fact that Polish enterprises from the energy sector illustrate far-reaching specifics, among others, with regard to the key significance of the entities with a prevalent state ownership and strict administrative regulations, which are subject to the energy market, state of development and structure of the whole sector in Poland. Thus, this is also why the mechanisms or dependencies, whose existence it is possible to expect in conditions of free competition, may be weakened or even eliminated in Polish conditions.

Impact of Corporate Environmental Responsibility on Firm’s Financial Performance: Moderating Role of Organizational Slack and Industry Competition

Due to speedy trade and industry expansion in the emerging economies it is creating stern environmental corrosion. Effluence makers’ enterprises are mostly responsible for environmental deterioration. Therefore, it is the responsibility of those firms to take steps to control this corrosion in the environment. This research explains the effect of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) on corporate financial performance (CFP) with the moderating effect of organizational slack and industry competition. Data was collected from annual reports of 50 KSE 100 index companies from 2012-2019, containing total 450 observations. Dynamic penal model was used to test the study hypothesis by using Eviews, different pre and post estimations are applied to confirm the data validity. Empirical results indicate that corporate environmental responsibility has significant positive effect on corporate financial performance, while the moderating effect of organizational slack is negative. Industry competition has significant positive moderating effect on the relationship, i.e., if there is high competition in industry then firms will invest more in environment to attract more consumers and to create good will in market. The study reveal that those firms will lead where competition is high and who will focus on their responsibility towards environment.

The Effect of Corporate Financial Performance on Market Value Moderated by Sustainable Development and Good Corporate Governance

This research aims to analyze the impact of corporate financial performance on the market value moderated by good corporate governance and sustainability development in Great Britain companies listed in London stock exchange. This research tests the causal relationships among variables including corporate financial performance; market value moderated by good corporate governance and sustainable development in UK companies listed in London stock exchange. Findings of this research are (1) Profit is reflection of the success in implementing the activities and operations of the company. (2) The result presented the current practice of good corporate governance in London stock exchange, showed that most of the companies concerning the implementation of good corporate governance principles, which include: rights of shareholders, equitable treatment of shareholders, role of stakeholders in corporate governance. Originality of this research is the Impact of CFP on firm market value has been documented in literature. Ideally, CFP on market value should be correlated, but studies on CFP and market value have yielded mixed results positive, negative and neutral impact. This research can benefit to the companies with their existing policy modifications as per requirements in the present of United Kingdom financial environment.

The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm financial performance: does audit quality matter?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm financial performance, and how audit quality moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses panel dataset of 200 French firms listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and moderating effects were tested by using multiple regression technique.FindingsThe authors find that CSR has a positive impact on firm financial performance proxy with return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin's Q (TQ), suggesting that investment in social activities helps firms to achieve better financial results. The authors also find that the improvement effect of CSR on corporate financial performance is more pronounced for firms audited by Big 4 auditors.Research limitations/implicationsOne limit of this study is the selection of independent variables. We are limited to one variable, namely CSR engagement. Further studies may consider other independent variables, such as the age of the company, the type of industry, the composition of the board of directors, etc., in order to provide an in-depth analysis of corporate financial performance drivers.Practical implicationsThe findings have practical implications that may be useful to managers in their management of the firm. They encourage all board members to seriously weigh investing in developing strategies that promote the social behavior components in order to improve overall corporate performance.Originality/valueThe research adds to the current literature on CSR by revealing the impact of external auditor quality on the CSR–financial performance relationship. In addition, it investigates not only the overall CSR ratings but also each of CSR dimensions, namely environmental, social and governance.

Relationship between corporate sustainability performance and corporate financial performance: evidence from U.S. companies

Research background: Sustainable development at the enterprise level is understood as the integration of economic, environmental and social dimensions aimed at meeting the needs of all firm?s stakeholders in the present and in the future. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the relationship between economic, environmental and social sustainability performance of a company and its financial performance. Purpose of the article: Considering the business model for sustainability as well as the debatable results of empirical research on the relationship between corporate sustainability performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP), the essential aim of the paper is to answer the question whether the improvement of corporate sustainability performance in its all particular dimensions brings about higher total revenues (TR) of a company. Methods: The main method of empirical research is panel regression models based on Cobb-Douglas production function, which has been extended to include variables of corporate sustainability scores. The selection between pooled OLS model, random-effects model and fixed-effects model has been made with the use of the F test, the Breusch-Pagan test and the Hausman test. Additionally, descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficients have been analyzed. The empirical studies were conducted in the period 2014?2019 among the 59 largest U.S. companies listed in the Fortune 500 ranking between 2015?2020. Findings & value added: The research hypothesis assuming the existence of positive relationship between corporate sustainability performance (CSP) at both aggregate and disaggregate levels and corporate financial performance (CFP) expressed by TR cannot be positively verified. It means that the improvement of corporate sustainability performance in environmental, social and governance dimensions does not lead to an increase in TR of a company, as some empirical studies suggest.

Does corporate ownership enforce sustainable development? An empirical study on Korean companies.

This study examined Korean companies on whether ownership affects corporate social responsibility performance (CSP) to influence on the corporate financial performance (CFP). According to the results, ownership has causational relationship with financial performance of firms varies upon proxy of CFP. Ownership and CFP demonstrates reverse-U type with ROA but U-type with market to book ratio (MB ratio). Second, ownership and CSP does not prove to have any causality. Partly, ownership shows negative effects on corporate governance. Finally, CSP does not affect profit (ROA) but improve the market value. For the moment, CSP is not an active factor to find out that high proportion of the companies in the sample during the research period were credited low CSP. Most of the companies with high credits on CSP are efficient and stable profit earning companies which leave room to consider the slack-resource theory.