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The aim of this research is to examine the effect of corporate sustainability performance on financial performance and the role of agency costs and business risk in determining this effect.

This study uses the data of 83 non-financial Turkish firms listed on Istanbul Stock Exchange during the period 2014–2021. Two-step system GMM models are applied to examine the study’s hypotheses.

The results indicate a positive effect of corporate sustainability performance on financial performance, and that this effect is significant only for firms that are more likely to suffer agency costs of equity, firms with R&D expenditures and firms with lower business risk.

The results of this study confirm the importance of regulations introduced by regulators to support the sustainability initiatives for firms that have less ability to access funds required for their investments. In addition, the findings provide important insight into the role of the persistence of corporate sustainability performance in enhancing financial performance through mitigating managers' opportunistic behavior.

To the author’s knowledge, this research is one of few that examine the effect of agency costs and business risk on the corporate sustainability–financial performance relationship in emerging markets.

Construction sustainability (CS) is a strategic reaction to the sustainability expectations of the construction industry's external stakeholders. The extant literature has viewed the environmental, social and economic dimensions of CS as having independent effects on financial performance. Due to the influence of common stakeholders, however, interactions in these dimensions will be present in their effect on financial performance. Accordingly, this study identifies the mechanisms of the interactions between the three CS dimensions and how they jointly affect financial performance.

Content analysis of GRI reports of 60 large construction organisations, followed by a hierarchical regression analysis was used to identify the interactions between environmental, social and economic CS in their effect on financial performance.

Economic CS was found to indirectly, and not directly, affect financial performance, the effect being mediated by both environmental and social CS. Environmental CS was found to have a strong negative effect on financial performance, whilst social CS was found to have a strongly significant positive effect on financial performance.

The motivation for engaging in CS is that investment in economic CS will have a positive effect on both environmental and social CS outcomes, which, in turn can have a combined effect on financial performance.

This is one of the first studies investigating the effect of interactions between the environmental, social and economic CS dimensions on the financial performance of construction organisations. It is also one of the first studies that applies a sociotechnical framework to this relationship.

Focusing on the Agri-Food and Beverage sector, the paper investigates the direct effect of worldwide mandatory non-financial disclosure on several financial dimensions as well as its moderating effects on the relationship between sustainability and financial performance.

The authors performed fixed-effect regressions on a sample of 180 global listed companies, considering a period of eight years. The authors also tested the moderating effects of non-financial disclosure regulation on the relationship between sustainability and financial performance.

The authors found a positive direct impact of mandatory non-financial disclosure on Operating Return on Asset, Return on Equity and Return on Sales. The analysis also highlighted the negative moderating effects of non-financial reporting regulation on the relationship between sustainability issues and financial performance. As for the Cost of Debt, the authors found mixed results.

This study considers a short-term perspective focusing on a limited sample composed of companies playing a key role in the global agri-food system.

The paper identifies which financial performance dimensions are positively or negatively affected by mandatory non-financial disclosure. Accordingly, managers can rearrange corporate activities to deal with further reporting normative requirements concurrently preserving financial performances and fostering corporate sustainability.

This study recommends fostering mandatory non-financial disclosure to increase corporate transparency fostering the sustainability transition of the Agri-Food and Beverage industry.

The paper highlights global mandatory non-financial disclosure effects on financial performance considering a sector that is cross-cutting impactful on plural sustainability issues.

This study aims to explore the relationship between sustainability reporting and the financial performance of companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange as one of the emerging markets.

The study collects data from the corporate annual reports of a sample of 67 companies listed on the Saudi stock exchanges during the period 2016–2019. Financial performance has been measured using four accounting-based measures: return on assets, return on equity, return on capital employed and earnings per share. The relationship between financial performance and sustainability reporting has been estimated using a sustainability index that includes three dimensions (environment, health and safety, and social responsibility).

The results reveal that the sustainability reporting of Saudi companies, in general, is low. The results also indicate that there is a positive relationship between corporate financial performance and sustainability reporting, whether for the composite index or the three sub-indexes. However, this positive relationship is not statistically significant.

Results of this study are limited to the context in which the study was conducted, which is the Saudi stock exchange from 2016 to 2019, and then the generalization of the results may be limited to listed companies operating in a similar social and economic context. The study also depends on accounting-based measures for financial performance without using market-based measures.

This study comes at the appropriate time with Saudi Arabia's adoption of a comprehensive economic plan called “Saudi Vision 2030”, of which sustainability is at the heart. Despite the efforts of the Saudi government to support sustainability, studies on this issue are still very few.

This paper analyzes the connection between the sustainability performance of Chinese banks and their financial indicators to explore whether sustainability regulations can be implemented without decreasing the financial performance of the banking sector.

The study examined reports and websites of Chinese banks, categorized different corporate sustainability aspects and conducted panel regression and Granger causality to analyze cause and effect variables.

The environmental and social performance of Chinese banks increased significantly between 2009 and 2013. Furthermore, a bi-directional causality between financial performance and sustainability performance of Chinese banks has been found. Based on institutional theory, this interaction may be influenced by the Chinese Green Credit Policy.

The findings suggest that corporate sustainability performance and financial performance are not a trade-off but correlate positively. Further research is needed to analyze the effect of financial regulations, such as the Chinese Green Credit Policy.

According to the good management theory by Waddock and Graves (1997) that claims a positive impact of corporate social performance on financial performance, Chinese banks can invest in corporate sustainability to increase their financial success and re-invest parts of the additional returns – also called slack resources – in sustainability activities.

Chinese banks are able to influence the economy to become greener and less polluting without sacrificing financial returns.

This is the first study to explore the sustainability performance of Chinese banks, including their products and services.

Global investors demand, regulators require, and companies disclose their sustainability performance information, and scholars have started to conduct research on sustainability performance, reporting and assurance. The goal of firm value creation can be achieved when management considers the interests of all stakeholders and integrates all five economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance into managerial strategies, actions and reporting. This paper provides a synthesis of research on sustainability and presents a theoretical framework consisting of theories and standards relevant to all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance and risks and their integration into corporate culture, business models and reporting in creating stakeholder value.

The study's main objective is to identify business sustainability performance indicators and analyze the mutual relationship between different business sustainability components in Iran.

To achieve research objectives, the 125 indicators of Business Sustainability Performance in Arianpoor and Salehi (2020) were used. For data collection, a questionnaire is designed and developed. Moreover, the Delphi method is used to determine the indicators related to business sustainability performance. Accordingly, we attempted to send the questionnaire to 346 experts and qualified opinion-leaders in the study area to utilize their opinions in our project. Finally, 108 questionnaires were analyzed statistically.

In this study, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), binomial test, one sample t-test, one sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and Kruskal–Wallis test are used. The results of statistical tests show that among 125 proposed indicators, 11 indicators were eliminated. Hence, to assess business sustainability performance in the listed firm on the Tehran Stock Exchange, 114 indicators were analyzed. To achieve the study's objective, the relationship between financial and non-financial sustainability performance and their effect is analyzed using the Smart PLS Software. Findings indicate that there is a mutual relationship between financial and non-financial sustainability performance in Iran. There is also a relationship between the operational component and research component and non-financial sustainability performance. In contrast, as for the growth component and non-financial sustainability performance, there is no significant relationship. Also, root means squared error (RMSE) values suggest a reasonable model-data fit.

The type and characteristics of different regions have a significant role in the reporting and differ according to different economic conditions. The discussion of business sustainability and its reporting is important; therefore, essential indicators were identified in this study. In addition, all aspects of sustainability performance are considered cohesively to analyze the mutual relationship between different components of sustainability performance and to be able to make more appropriate decisions in future studies about performance evaluation and reporting using the results of this paper.

This experimental study examined whether sustainability performance measures matter in managerial appraisal and bonus decisions. Participants received financial and non-financial information about four branch managers of a commercial bank, with different combinations of sustainability and financial performance. Participants perceived sustainability measures as being less important than financial ones; still, the experiment revealed that sustainability performance had some impact on appraisal and bonus decisions (albeit it mattered less than financial performance). Evaluators seemed to penalize inferior sustainability performance less than they penalized inferior financial performance. They also seemed to reward sustainability success less than financial success. These findings have practical implications for the implementation of sustainability measures in managerial evaluation systems. The experimental results indicated that incorporating these measures in evaluations does not necessarily mean they will have a sizable effect in decision-making. Results from a companion experiment suggested that organizations using a sustainability balanced scorecard for appraisal and bonus purposes might benefit from an increased emphasis on communication and evaluator training, with a focus on how sustainability performance impacts the attainment of strategic objectives.

This paper aims to verify whether the integration of sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance and whether corporate governance characteristics enhance the relationship between sustainability compensation and firms’ non-financial performance and to expand the domain of the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.

This analysis is based on a sample of companies listed on the Milan Italian Stock Exchange from the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index over the 2016–2020 period. Regression analysis was used by using data retrieved from the Refinitiv Eikon database and the sample firms’ remuneration reports.

The findings of this paper show that embedding sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance. The results of this paper also reveal that specific corporate governance features can improve the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.

This analysis is limited to Italian firms included in the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index; however, the findings are highly significant.

The findings provide regulators with useful insights for considering the integration of sustainability goals into executive remuneration. Another implication is that policymakers should require – at least – listed firms to fulfil specific corporate governance structural requirements. Finally, the findings can provide investors and financial analysts with a greater awareness of the role played by executive remuneration in the long-term value-creation process.

This paper contributes to addressing the relationship among sustainability, remuneration and non-financial disclosure, drawing on the stakeholder–agency theoretical framework and focusing on Italian firms. This issue has received limited attention with controversial results in the literature.

Drawing on paradox theory, this study explores how ambidextrous sustainability relates to organisational performance in hybrid organisations represented by Swedish municipal housing corporations, and how this relationship is contingent on the organisational structure of these organisations.

The study relies on the data collected from Swedish municipal housing corporations. These data sources consist of a survey sent to the management team members in Swedish municipal housing corporations, financial and non-financial archival data on these corporations, interviews with the management team and board members, and observations of meetings involving the management team and board of directors at a Swedish municipal housing corporation. Quantitative data of the study were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and linear multiple regression analysis. Qualitative data were analysed employing deductive thematic analysis and were used to illustrate and discuss the results of the quantitative analysis.

The quantitative findings show that ambidextrous sustainability, i.e. the alignment between an explorative orientation and an exploitative orientation towards sustainability, has a weakly positive relationship with financial performance and a positive relationship with social performance in hybrid organisations represented by Swedish municipal housing corporations. The study further shows that a high level of the structural element “connectedness” weakened the relationship between the ambidextrous sustainability and financial performance of the organisation in the study. In contrast, a lower level of connectedness reinforced and strengthened this relationship. Our qualitative material illustrates how the quantitative findings could be explained by the interaction between the board of directors and the management team of these hybrid organisations.

The study shows how ambidextrous sustainability, employed for conceptualisation of the sustainability strategy in hybrid organisations, represented by Swedish municipal housing corporations, can impact on facets of performance (i.e. financial, social and environmental) differently. The study further highlights the importance of organisational structures in these relationships in a hybrid context.