Search results

This study investigates how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors influence intangible asset and intellectual capital valuation within the food and beverage (F&B) industry. By examining and contrasting global and European contexts, the research highlights ESG’s critical role in shaping the economic dimensions of sustainability across different regulatory environments. The results provide essential insights for stakeholders aiming to enhance corporate value through responsible business practices.

We adopt a quantitative fixed-effects panel regression analysis for ESG performance and intangible asset and intellectual capital values. The correlations between these variables are explored both globally and in the European Union using 1,034 observations from 502 F&B companies.

Globally, higher ESG performance corresponds to lower intangible asset values, a trend not observed in the European Union. Further, high ESG performance is associated with a decrease in intellectual capital value, suggesting that internal organisational efforts in this area should be rewarded in terms of short-term value.

This study provides a new understanding of the relationship between ESG performance, intellectual capital, and the F&B industry operating environment, highlighting the complexity and challenges associated with integrating ESG practices.

This study aims to examine the impact of digital transformation on firms’ value and explore the mediating impact of ESG performance and moderating impact of information interaction.

Data was collected from companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchange between 2012 and 2020 with 21,488 observational samples, featuring a selection of 3,348 companies. Panel data regression techniques were used to test the mediating role of ESG performance and the moderating role of information interaction.

The study found that digital transformation can improve firms’ ESG performance, which in turn positively affects their value. The firms that engage in more interaction with outsiders benefit more from digital transformation and have a higher value.

This study provides new theoretical insight into improving firms’ value through digital transformation and ESG performance. It is the first to discuss and study the moderating role of information interaction in the relationship between digital transformation and firms’ value.

The transition to green growth goals requires the concerted efforts of the whole society. Enterprises, as important players in the market, play a key role in promoting green and sustainable development. The rise of the concept of sustainable development has enabled more enterprises to disclose environmental, social and governance (ESG) information, and ESG behaviour is regarded as a positive strategic behaviour to implement the new development concept. This paper aims to explore the influence of ESG performance on enterprise green innovation.

This study applies a fixed effect model and the regulation effect of empirical analysis to explore the influence of ESG performance on enterprise green innovation. The object of investigation is 2014–2021 Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies.

The results of an empirical analysis outline the following conclusions: (1) ESG performance has a significant effect on enterprise green innovation, mainly by easing the pressure of the financing enterprise, fitting stakeholders’ environmental protection concept and obtaining employee organizational identity that influences enterprise green innovation. (2) Government regulation positively regulates the role of ESG performance in promoting the green innovation of enterprises. (3) Heterogeneity analysis found that the strengthening role of ESG performance on the green innovation of enterprises is stronger in green invention patents, state-owned enterprises and nonheavily polluting industries.

Despite the valuable findings, this study has a few limitations. Thus, it is necessary to extend the object of investigation by adding other Asian countries, which allows for comparison analysis and allocating best practices for promoting green innovation. Besides, innovation and ESG performance depend on the quality of institutions. In this case, the future study should incorporate the indicators that reveal the quality of institutions (corruption, transparency, digitalisation, voice, accountability, etc.).

According to the above conclusions, this paper proposes suggestions at the level of enterprises, government and investors. At the enterprise level, ESG responsibility should be strengthened, ESG information should be consciously disclosed and the quality of ESG disclosure should be improved. Government departments should play the role of supervisors, improve the construction of ESG information disclosure systems and promote the formation of ESG systems. At the social level, investors should improve the ESG information status and pay more attention to the ESG performance of enterprises.

This study fills the scientific gaps in the analysis impact of ESG performance on the green innovation of enterprises. This paper contributes to the theoretical landscape of ESG efficiency by developing approaches based on two empirical models: testing the impact of enterprise ESG performance on green innovation and testing whether government regulation plays a regulatory role in the relationship between ESG performance and green innovation. Besides, this study analysed the ESG performance and green innovation within the following categories: heavy and nonheavy polluter industries; state and nonstate-owned enterprise groups.

This study aims to examine the effect of the board of directors (BoD) structure on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in publicly traded non-financial firms from the perspective of agency theory, with investors as the principal, the management team as the agent, the BoD as an information system that reduces information asymmetries between them and ESG performance as a shareholder’s expectation.

Sample data is cross-sectional as of January 2023 and includes 1,695 non-financial firms listed in 59 stock markets across 54 countries. Data were sourced from the FactSet Research Systems database. The generalized least squares method was used to run quadratic and exponential models to assess the research hypotheses.

Results revealed that board size, independence, age, gender diversity and participation on other corporate boards have a nonlinear relationship with ESG performance. Board tenure is the only BoD attribute for which a nonlinear association is not found. This study found that firms with larger boards and more female board members tend to exhibit a stronger commitment to ESG performance. In contrast, companies with a board of directors consisting of independent members, advanced age, service on other corporate boards and CEO duality may struggle to prioritize positive ESG outcomes.

This study contributes to the academic discussion on BoD–ESG by examining nonlinear relationships among a large sample of publicly traded firms; providing results that could be applied internationally; using ESG data that is based on the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board's materiality framework, which identifies key ESG factors for investors; emphasizing the significance of diversity and inclusion within the decision-making bodies of public companies, thereby improving their ESG performance; and supporting the agency theory perspective and suggesting that the effect of board structure on ESG may reflect the board's focus on investors’ best interests.

This paper has a dual purpose: to produce a clear panorama of microfactors behind the implementation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in emergent economies, and to identify long-term versus short-term implications of ESG and its impacts on sustainable transformation. In particular, the paper investigates the moderating role of ownership concentration on ESG performance and firm value relationship in Southeast Asia during 2010–2022 and COVID-19 period 2020–2022.

By adopting stakeholder and agency theory lenses, this study analyzes 591 nonfinancial listed companies in Southeast Asia from 2010 to 2022 with 2,673 firm-year observations. Data has been collected from Refinitiv and companies' annual reports. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimators are main strategies.

During 2010–2022, the links between ESG performances and firm value are negative. Ownership concentration negatively moderates the nexus between governance pillar and firm value in both short and long run. In COVID-19, ownership concentration also plays an antagonistic moderating role in ESG combined score-firm value association. The results show a crucial role of blockholders in Southeast Asian firms and their strong support to ESG in conquering crisis period, suggesting that managers develop balancing mechanisms in making ESG-related decisions; policymakers and regulators improve effective control instruments with strong legal systems and enhanced law enforcement to protect minority shareholders.

This is the first study to test the connection between ESG performance, ownership concentration and firm value in Southeast Asia that has: (1) utilized different proxies of firm value and ownership concentration in robustness tests, (2) controlled heteroskedasticity defects, (3) eliminated companies in the Banking and Finance sector from the sample to avoid distorting the conclusions and (4) empirically verified the driven role of governance pillar in ESG performance and ownership concentration reversely moderated the impact of governance pillar on firm value.

This examine the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance on financial reporting quality (FRQ) before and during COVID-19 in the Egyptian market.

This study uses quarterly data from 2017 to 2021 to draw conclusions, with a sample consisting of 486 firm-year observations for 27 Egyptian companies listed on the Standard and Poor’s/Egyptian Stock Exchange ESG index. This study uses both firms’ ESG scores and the Beneish Model, an earnings detection model, as proxies for FRQ. COVID-19 effects on ESG performance and FRQ were examined by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and two-stage least squares.

COVID-19 has a significant impact on the link between ESG and FRQ. This implies that corporations with high ESG performance are less likely to manipulate earnings (having a low M-score) and thus provide high FRQ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, there is a significant positive relationship between firm size, leverage and M-Score, indicating that large firms typically present a high FRQ.

The sample size and data availability are the main research limitations. Additionally, this study only considers the effects of firms’ ESG performance on FRQ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, future research should consider other factors associated with investors’ corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This research has practical implications for market regulators seeking to establish a legislative framework and enhance guidance to mandate managers to provide ESG data and CSR reports appropriate for Egypt and other developing economies in times of crisis.

Promoting the adoption of ESG practices in business, particularly during crises, has the potential to effectively provide high-quality and reliable financial reporting required for investment.

This study aspires to address notable deficiencies in the pertinent literature concerning the relationship between ESG performance and FRQ during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, little is known about how ESG performance changes in response to pandemics in emerging markets. To address this gap, this study examines the effects of COVID-19 on the relationship between ESG performance and FRQ in Egyptian-listed firms from 2017 to 2021.

The aim of this research paper is to analyze the connection between ESG performance and financial performance within the real estate sector. By focusing on ESG ratings and pillar scores as proxies for ESG performance, the study investigates how these factors impact both profitability and market indicators.

With data sourced from over 680 publicly listed real estate companies, the research employs a fixed effects regression model to analyze the findings. By utilizing this method, the study can assess the impact of governance, environmental and social factors on both the accounting and market performance of real estate companies.

The outcomes of this study underscore a link between sustainability, particularly environmental aspects and financial performance. However, the study also reveals a contrasting result: governance factors are associated with adverse financial outcomes. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight the limitations as the results present a mixed picture with limited significant findings.

Companies should prioritize improvements in environment to boost profitability, while they should carefully consider the costs and benefits associated with enhancing their governance structure.

By focusing on this industry and adopting a global perspective, the study addresses a gap in the literature. The research’s innovative approach to utilizing ESG ratings and pillar scores as proxies for ESG performance enhances its originality. Furthermore, the research’s identification of the differing impacts of environmental and governance factors on financial outcomes add novel perspectives to the discourse.

In the global context, artificial intelligence (AI) technology and environmental, social and governance (ESG) have emerged as central drivers facilitating corporate transformation and the business model revolution. This paper aims to investigate whether and how the application of AI enhances the ESG performance of enterprises.

This study uses panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning the period from 2012 to 2022. Through a multivariate regression analysis, it examines the impact of AI on the ESG performance of enterprises.

The findings suggest that the application of AI in enterprises has a positive impact on ESG performance. Internal control systems within the organization and external information environments act as mediators in the relationship between AI and corporate ESG performance. Furthermore, corporate compliance plays a moderating role in the connection between AI and corporate ESG performance.

This paper underscores the pivotal role played by AI in enhancing corporate ESG performance. It explores the pathways to improving corporate ESG behavior from the perspectives of internal control and information environments. This discussion holds significant implications for advancing the application of AI in enterprises and enhancing their sustainable governance capabilities.

This study aims to investigate the effects of board cultural diversity (BCD) and board gender diversity (BGD) of the board of directors on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the European banking sector using resource-based view (RBV) theory. In addition, this study analyses the linkages between BCD and BGD and knowledge sharing on the board of directors to improve ESG performance.

This study selected a sample of European-listed banks covering the period 2021. ESG and diversity variables were collected from Refinitiv Eikon and analysed using the ordinary least squares model. This study was conducted in the European context regulated by Directive 95/2014/EU, which requires sustainability disclosure. The original population was represented by 250 banks; after missing data were excluded, the final sample comprised 96 European-listed banks.

The findings highlight the positive linkages between BGD, BCD and ESG scores in the European banking sector. In addition, the findings highlight that diversity contributes to knowledge sharing by improving ESG performance in a regulated sector. Nonetheless, the combined effect of BGD and BCD negatively impacts ESG performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to measure and analyse a regulated sector, such as banking, and the relationship between cultural and gender diversity for sharing knowledge under the RBV theory lens in the ESG framework.

This study provides evidence that financial performance becomes a foundation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities, and it will be appreciated positively by the market through the firm value. This examination is triggered by different views of ESG activities, such as philanthropy, doing business ethically, the indirect benefit for shareholders, or maintaining reputation. Therefore, it causes differences in ESG activity appreciation by market. Meanwhile, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity is voluntary in Indonesia, so this activity aims to maintain reputation or avoid risk allegations according to environmental and social abuse. This study predicts that a stable firm’s financial performance concerns environmental and social issues. This study uses 139 companies from Indonesian Stock Market Data from 2013 to 2019, which fulfill the criteria of Thompson Reuters for ESG score. The empirical evidence shows that firm financial performance influences ESG score consistently as the antecedent. Further, ESG performance mediates the effect of firm financial performance on firm value. This research contributes to stakeholder theory, CSR practice, and good governance.