Jul 2026· Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management· 0 citations· 39 references
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and firm value in the global energy sector, with a focus on the moderating effects of national culture and green innovation. It analyzes 1960 firm‐year observations from publicly traded energy companies in 35 countries from 2014 to 2023. Results show that ESG performance is positively associated with accounting‐based performance, while its impact on market valuation is limited. National culture plays a significant role: individualism enhances the financial benefits of ESG, whereas power distance and uncertainty avoidance reduce them. Green innovation improves operational performance but does not strengthen the ESG–firm value link, likely because of the short‐term costs of implementation and adjustment. The findings underscore the critical role of institutional context and organizational capabilities in driving value through sustainability initiatives in the energy sector. These results hold consistently across ESG measures, subsample analyses, and endogeneity tests.
Sustainable development is increasingly reshaping corporate strategies, particularly in emerging markets such as India, where environmental, social, and governance (ESG) integration has become pivotal for long‐term value creation. This study examines the impact of ESG performance on firm outcomes for Nifty 500 firms over 2014–2024, considering both aggregated and disaggregated ESG dimensions, while assessing the influence of country‐level governance mechanisms. Using panel regression analysis, the findings reveal that robust ESG practices significantly enhance financial, operational, and market performance, underscoring their strategic relevance. At the disaggregated level, social (SOC) and governance (GOV) performance consistently improve profitability, efficiency, and market valuation, whereas environmental (ENV) initiatives exhibit short‐term negative effects, likely due to compliance and investment costs. Further, country governance indicators, including voice and accountability (VAA), political stability and absence of violence (PSV), government effectiveness (GVE), regulatory quality (REQ), rule of law (ROL), and control of corruption (COC), differentially shape the ESG–performance link. While VAA, PSV, REQ, and GVE enhance ESG's impact, ROL and COC constrain immediate gains, highlighting the role of governance quality in aligning ESG initiatives with firm‐level outcomes. The study provides critical insights for regulators, policymakers, investors, and corporate managers, emphasizing governance as a key enabler of sustainable growth in an emerging market.
Rizwana Khurshid, A. Islam· Business Strategy & Deve...· 0 citations
This study examines whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance enhances firm value in China’s A-share market, how this relationship operates, and under what conditions it becomes stronger. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the natural resource-based view, and the dynamic capabilities perspective, this study develops a moderated mediation framework in which green innovation mediates the ESG–firm value relationship and digital transformation strengthen the ESG–green innovation link. Using panel data for 4423 Chinese A-share listed firms comprising 27,254 firm-year observations from 2009 to 2023, the hypotheses are tested using two-way fixed-effects models, mediation and moderated mediation analyses, robustness tests, and instrumental-variable estimation. The results show that overall ESG performance is positively associated with firm value, although its dimensions exhibit heterogeneous effects: environmental performance is negatively associated with firm value, whereas social and governance performance show positive associations. Green innovation partially mediates the ESG–firm value relationship, indicating that ESG creates greater economic value when sustainability commitments are translated into substantive green innovation. Digital transformation further strengthens the indirect effect of ESG performance on firm value through green innovation. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that the value relevance of ESG varies across firm size, ownership type, and industry pollution intensity. The findings suggest that ESG does not create firm value automatically; rather, its economic value depends on firms’ ability to transform sustainability commitments into innovation, with digital transformation enhancing this process. By identifying both the mechanism and the boundary condition of ESG value creation, this study provides new evidence on how and under what conditions ESG contributes to firm value in an emerging market.
Dan Wang, Anis Suriati Binti Ahmad, Nur Amirah Binti Borhan· Journal of Risk and Financia...· 0 citations
This study examines whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices enhance corporate profitability and firm value by reviewing empirical evidence from previous studies. Using a systematic literature review guided by a PRISMA approach, peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2025 and indexed in Scopus and Web of Science were analyzed. The findings indicate that firms adopting ESG practices generally achieve stronger financial performance and higher market valuation, although the strength and direction of the relationship vary across contexts. Five key factors influence these outcomes: the credibility of ESG disclosure, the financial materiality of ESG issues within the industry, governance quality, environmental exposure, and the institutional maturity of the market. The review also highlights that inconsistencies among ESG rating agencies contribute to measurement differences, leading to mixed empirical findings. Drawing on stakeholder and legitimacy theories, the study suggests that effective ESG implementation reduces information asymmetry, lowers financing costs, strengthens corporate reputation, and increases investor confidence. An integrative framework is proposed to explain the relationship between ESG implementation and firm value while identifying future research opportunities, particularly in emerging economies such as Indonesia, where sustainable finance regulations continue to develop.
Agung Nugroho, Andini Nurwulandari, E. Hasanudin· International Journal of Eco...· 0 citations
This study investigates how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance related to corporate performance among firms listed on Thailand Sustainability Investment (THSI) index from 2018 to 2022, that are part of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). This research utilizes agency theory and stakeholder theory to assess the influence of ESG aspects on company outcomes through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), emphasizing direct effects and the moderating role of governance. Findings reveal that Environmental, Social and Governance performance impacts firm performance in diverging directions. Environmental performance has a significant negative relationship with Return on Assets (ROA), reflecting the financial impact associated with environmental activities during the investigated period, whereas social performance shows substantial positive relations with ROA. Regarding governance, results show a positive direct effect on ROA, showing enhanced operational efficiency, on other hand, results indicate a negative influence on Tobin’s Q, indicating potential market concerns over monitoring costs. Crucially, significantly strengthening the positive influence of social performance on ROA, governance serves as a selective moderating mechanism. This implies that by reducing agency conflicts, strong internal control ensures social investments are efficiently translated into accounting returns. In contrast, the environmental pillar shows no moderating effect. These results emphasize the importance of dissection ESG indicators. Investors and government bodies should prioritize dimension-specific evaluations above overall rating in order to better align sustainability activities with financial performance.
Pakkamon Charoensuk, Chaimongkol Pholkaew, Kusuma Dampitakse· Asian Economic and Financial...· 0 citations
Global supply chains face increasing sustainability‐related risks, yet evidence regarding the financial benefits of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives remains mixed. We argue that these inconsistencies arise because ESG dimensions operate through different value‐creation mechanisms and because existing research pays insufficient attention to the organizational processes through which sustainability becomes economically consequential. Using Bloomberg ESG and financial data for 1830 firms across 80 countries, combined with country‐level political and institutional indicators, we examine whether operational efficiency mediates the relationship between ESG performance and profitability. Results show that environmental and social performance are positively associated with profitability, whereas governance performance exhibits weaker and less consistent effects. Operational efficiency partially mediates the environmental–performance relationship and serves as a significant pathway through which social performance contributes to financial outcomes. In contrast, governance performance demonstrates neither significant mediation nor robust direct effects. Although political‐institutional conditions are associated with firm performance, they exert limited influence on the operational pathways linking sustainability activities to profitability. These findings demonstrate that ESG dimensions create value through distinct mechanisms rather than through a uniform sustainability effect and identify operational efficiency as a central mechanism through which sustainability initiatives become financially material. The study contributes a process‐oriented explanation of how firms translate sustainability commitments into organizational resilience and sustained financial performance.
S. Bhatnagar, R. Kumar· Sustainable Development· 0 citations
In view of China's “dual carbon goals” (carbon neutrality and carbon peaking), the mechanisms and boundary conditions that form the basis of the relationship between corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and financial performance have not been adequately explored. Using data on Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2010 to 2024, this study investigates the mediating role of green innovation in the association between corporate ESG performance and financial performance. Then, we examine the impact of corporate ESG practices on financial performance at varying levels of financial risk, adding consideration of financial risk. Our empirical results indicate that good ESG performance significantly enhances financial performance; however, this relationship is moderated by the level of financial risk. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that non–state‐owned enterprises, firms with high‐quality information disclosure, and small firms benefit more from ESG‐driven green innovation. This study clarifies the pathways and boundaries of ESG‐driven value creation, enriches the literature on sustainable finance, and provides empirical guidance for enterprises engaged in a low‐carbon transition.
Huimin Shao, Qing Jin, Jia Zhou et al.· Corporate Social Responsibil...· 0 citations