Un crescente numero di aziende è oggi impegnato in attività ESG. È fondamentale dunque comprendere se tali attività conducano all’ottenimento di migliori performance economiche o meno. I risultati in letteratura non sono univoci in merito. Il progetto ha l’obiettivo di dimostrare che l’attività ESG non è autonomamente in grado di produrre migliori prestazioni economiche. Solo quando aziende innovative implementano attività ESG, esiste una relazione positiva tra ESG e performance. Nell’ambito dello studio è dunque testato il ruolo moderatore che la variabile “innovazione” esercita sulla relazione fra ESG e performance economica. Lo studio tenta di contribuire alla letteratura esistente sotto tre aspetti. In primo luogo, prende in considerazione sia le attività ESG che l'innovazione. In secondo luogo, il campione utilizzato è molto più ampio di quelli di studi analoghi. Infine, include variabili innovative, che sono in grado di spiegare meglio il livello di attività ESG delle aziende. I risultati ottenuti consentono di confermare che solo per aziende innovative esiste un effetto positivo dell’attività ESG sulle performance. / A growing number of corporations are now engaged in a broad set of ESG activities. A central question is of course whether companies that enhance their ESG activities gain an advantage over companies that do not. Results in the literature are mixed. This project aims to demonstrate that ESG considered standalone is not able to provide better economic performance. Only when innovative companies implement ESG, a positive relation between ESG and performance exists. The moderating role of the R&D variable in then tested in the relationship between ESG and Corporate Financial Performance. The study attempts to bring novelty under three aspects. Firstly, it takes into consideration both ESG activities and innovation. Secondly, the sample used is larger than the ones of alike studies, in that it analyzed a larger time span, and it is cross-country. Finally, it includes innovative variables, which are better able to explain the ESG activities level of companies. Results obtained allow to confirm that a positive effect on performance by ESG activities exist only for innovative companies.

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) related issues has increased in relevance in recent years. To address societal pressures, many firms introduce corporate social responsibility (CSR) committees in their boards. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether CSR committees have an impact on ESG performance in Swedish listed firms. Prior literature has offered inconsistent findings regarding the link between CSR committees and ESG performance, which might be due to the lack of systematic understanding on the topic or the use of varying ESG measurements. This study contributes to the present knowledge by analyzing if CSR committees substantively increase ESG performance, or if it may simply be a symbolic act to enhance legitimacy, meet stakeholder demands, and conform to normative pressures in high stakeholder-oriented countries, such as Sweden. A multiple OLS regression is conducted to analyze a sample of 299 Swedish listed firms on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm for the year 2020. The results indicate a positive and significant relationship between CSR committees and ESG performance, which could be interpreted as CSR committees not being utilized as impression management tools but rather fundamentally contribute to increase the firm’s ESG performance. However, drawing generalizable conclusions is difficult since the study is limited by endogeneity concerns. Nevertheless, these results may have implications for practitioners who consider implementing CSR committees to enhance the firm’s ESG performance.

The study examines the link between the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance of a company and its cost of debt, measured as credit spreads between corresponding corporate and risk-free government bonds, in Nordic countries between 2020 and 2022. No previous studies look at ESG effects on bond spreads in the Nordic markets, although their stakeholder-oriented nature could make them attentive to ESG issues. Additionally, public and regulatory attention to carbon dioxide suggest a value for companies in decreasing emissions. In line with previous studies on ESG top-level and individual pillar performance, Refinitiv ESG scores are used as proxies for ESG performance in the two initial regressions, and an additional regression is run where a measure of carbon intensity is substituted for environmental pillar performance. Although there is a risk of reverse causality inherent in this field, the findings in this study indicate that ESG top-level performance reduces cost of debt, while carbon intensity increases it. Notably, social pillar scores and carbon intensity, but not environmental pillar scores, have significant effects on spreads.

The relationship between a firm’s ESG performance and information asymmetry is a well-covered research area, however, few studies have been conducted on the markets covered by EU regulation and the NFRD. This thesis aims to fill the research gap by examining the relationship between ESG performance and information asymmetry in firms listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, to provide evidence from the EU’s regulatory landscape. The study uses both fixed effects and random effects models to examine the relationship and aims to clarify the effect following the implementation of NFRD in the EU. The results suggest a negative relationship between ESG performance and information asymmetry when employing bid-ask spread as a proxy for information asymmetry. Additionally, trading volume and volatility are examined as proxies for information asymmetry, yet these show no support for a negative relationship. Further, the effect of NFRD does not show consistent results, thus not substantiating any robust evidence across the proxies. However, when employing bid-ask spread as a proxy for information asymmetry the results show implications of a stronger relationship after the implementation of NFRD.

This study aims to provide insights into the interplay between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and financial outcomes by investigating whether it leads to enhanced financial performance and firm value, partly during the economic crisis constituted by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses the theoretical frameworks stakeholder theory, resource-based view (RBV) theory, as well as customer and investor preference theory as an explanatory model for the results conducted by the panel data regression on a dataset of 248 companies derived from the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index from 2006 to 2023. The study found that ESG performance significantly enhances both return on capital employed (ROCE) and Tobin's Q. A one-unit increase in ESG score leads to a 0.59860 percentage increase in ROCE and a 0.5329 percentage increase in Tobin's Q. It can be established that larger companies exhibit lower financial performance and market valuations, while companies in the lowest ESG score quartile benefit more from ESG improvements. The impact of ESG scores on firm value is more pronounced during the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical findings from this study provide robust evidence supporting the theoretical framework and the growing body of literature suggesting a positive relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial outcomes. The findings offer valuable insights for business leaders, policymakers, and investors on the strategic importance of sustainability initiatives in today's complex business environment.

Yes / Using a sample of Brazilian listed companies during 2010-2019, the study investigates the endogeneity and the directional cause-effect relationship between firm efficiency, market structure and firms’ ESG performance under a Stochastic Structural Relationship Programming (SSRP) model. Also, comprehensive market structure indicators are used. The efficiency is estimated under a two-stage network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) model. Our empirical evidence is threefold. First, our evidence indicates that firms with better environmental performance are more efficient, whereas lower ESG performance and poorer corporate governance practices are associated with a higher level of efficiency. Second, our findings suggest that market structure measures (i.e., competition and market power) have heterogeneous impacts on various ESG indexes. Specifically, higher market competition is associated with better overall ESG performance and environmental performance but worse corporate governance performance, although market power can only enhance the environmental and governance performance of firms. Third, the two market structure proxies employed in this study are significantly attributed to firm efficiency. Our findings provide practical implications for various stakeholders and suggest avenues for future studies that can build on our evidence.

: I denna studie undersöker vi om CSR-strategier påverkar företagets möjligheter att få tillgång till externt kapital genom att sänka dess kapitalbegränsningar. Förtydligat syftar studien till att förklara hur sambandet mellan CSR-arbete och kapitalbegränsningar samt mellan CSR:s dimensioner och kapitalbegränsningar ser ut. Kan ett ökat CSR-arbete minska kapitalbegränsningar, ge ökad tillgång till kapital som i sin tur leder till större möjligheter att göra lönsamma investeringar och därmed skapa värde för företaget? Tidigare forskning har stannat vid att konstatera att CSR är värdeskapande och ökar företagets finansiella prestation men få rapporter går vidare och förklarar på vilket sätt värdet skapas eller varför den finansiella prestationen ökar. Vi tar ett steg till och ställer oss frågan varför värde skapas. / In this study, we investigate whether CSR strategies affect the company's ability to access external capital by reducing its capital constraints. Explained, the study aims at explaining the relationship between CSR performance and capital constrains, as well as between CSR dimensions and capital constrains. Can an increased CSR performance reduce capital constrains, increase access to capital, which in turn leads to greater opportunities to make profitable investments and thus create value for the company? Previous research has stopped finding that CSR is creating value and increases the company's financial performance, but few reports go further and explain how the value is created or why the financial performance is increasing. We take a further step and ask why value is created.

Titel: Institutionella faktorer, globala överenskommelser och dess samband med företagens hållbarhetsprestation - En studie om korruption, regleringskvalitet och Parisavtalet Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Josefin Emanuelsson och Jonas Lantto Handledare: Jan SvanbergDatum: 2023 – maj Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur länders korruption, regleringskvalitet och Parisavtalet påverkar bedömningen av företagens hållbarhetsprestation. Företagens hållbarhetsprestation har fått ett ökat inflytande för deras legitimitet i samhället. ESG-betyget är både en signal utåt för företagens intentioner och ansvar men är även under kritik för att förenkla ett komplext problem. Tidigare forskning visar att faktorer såsom korruption och regleringskvalitet påverkar företagens hållbarhetsarbetet. Studien vill testa dessa faktorer samt undersöka om det globala Parisavtalet har verkat som en yttre påtryckning för företagens hållbarhetsprestationer.  Metod: Studien har ett positivistiskt synsätt med en tvärkulturell, longitudinell forskningsdesign. Sekundärdatan är inhämtad från Refinitiv, Swiss Economic Institute, The World Bank, samt Worldwide Governance Indicator. Datan bearbetas och analyseras i statistikprogrammet SPSS. Urval består av 772 noterade företag från 23 länder inom Europa med ESG-betyg inrapporterade 2014-2019.  Resultat och slutsats: Studien visar att korruption och regleringskvalitet har ett negativt samband med prestationsbedömningar. Studien bidrar till att visa att ESG-betyg är en legitim strategi för företag att visa sig konkurrenskraftiga efter ratificeringen av Parisavtalet. Studien finner att utvecklingen av helhetsbetyget ESG samt pelaren G har accelererat. Studien finner att E, S och de lågpresterande företagen utvecklas positivt.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie undersöker hur institutionella faktorer och hur Parisavtalets påverkar företagens hållbarhetsprestation. De flesta av de tidigare studierna har fokuserat på mängden hållbarhetsredovisning istället för hållbarhetsprestation och denna studie bidrar till att bredda forskningsområdet kring hållbarhet och effekterna av reglering. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Studien föreslår att göra fler undersökningar kring politiska överenskommelser samt följa pelarnas utveckling efter Parisavtalet. Kommer E och S att börja accelerera när implementeringarna av G förankras i organisationerna? Nyckelord: ESG-betyg, hållbarhetsprestation, institutionella faktorer, korruption, regleringskvalitet, Parisavtal och Europa. / Title: Institutional factors, global agreements, and their connection with sustainable performance - A study about corruption, regulator quality and the Paris Agreement Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Josefin Emanuelsson and Jonas LanttoSupervisor: Jan SvanbergDate: 2023 - may Aim: The aim of the study is to examine how a country’s corruption and regulator quality and the Paris Agreements affects the judgment upon the companies sustainability performance. The importance of companies sustainability performances has increased for their legitimacy in society. The ESG-score has become both a signal for the companies intentions as well as responsibility, but has also received criticism for simplifying a complex problem. Earlier research shows that factors like corruption and regulator quality affect the sustainability actions. This study wants to test these factors and if the global Paris Agreements has had an external effect on the performance. Method: The study has a positivism-philosophical approach with a cross-cultural, longitudinal research design. The secondary data is obtained from Refinitiv, the Swiss Economic Institute, the World Bank and the Worldwide Governance Indicator. The data is processed and analysed in the statistical program SPSS. The selection consists of 772 listed companies from 23 countries within Europe with ESG ratings reported in 2014-2019. Results and conclusions: The study shows that corruption and regulator quality have a negative correlation with the companies sustainability performances. The study finds that ESG-scores are a legitimacy strategy to show competitiveness after the ratification of the Paris Agreements. The study finds that the development of the total ESG-score and the G-pillar has accelerated. The study also shows that the E-, S-pillar and low performing companies have a continued positive development. Contribution of the thesis: This study addresses the effects on firm-level ESG-performance based on the differences in the country-level variables corruption and regulatory quality. In addition, this study also examines the effects of the Paris agreements. Prior studies have mostly focused on the connection between country-level variables and ESG-disclosure and this study contributes to broadening the research area regarding sustainability and the effects of regulation. Suggestions for future research: Future studies should examine the further development of the different pillars post the Paris agreements and the possible effects on firm ESG-performance in case of any new global agreements.Key words: ESG-Score, ESG-performance, institutional factors, corruption, regulatory quality, Paris Agreements and Europe. Key words: ESG-Score, ESG-performance, institutional factors, corruption, regulatory quality, Paris Agreements and Europe.

This study aims to explore the relationship between the cost of debt and ESG reporting disclosure and performance. The extant literature presents mixed findings, with some studies establishing a significant negative relationship between the variables, while others report inconclusive or even positive results. Our analysis of 1,012 Nordic non-financial firms listed from 2011 to 2019 reveals that ESG reporting disclosure has a significant negative relationship with the cost of debt for some models, whereas ESG performance shows an insignificant relationship across all models. The variability in ESG rating methodologies and the time period of data collection are potential factors influencing these mixed results. Limited access to ESG data, selection bias, and survivorship bias also pose challenges to the analysis.

Submitted by Alexandre Garcia (atgempresarial@uol.com.br) on 2017-05-16T23:01:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Alexandre Sanches Garcia com ficha catalografica.pdf: 1908550 bytes, checksum: f5e1873071e0854913a4ca08177a36bd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Pamela Beltran Tonsa (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2017-05-17T14:16:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Alexandre Sanches Garcia com ficha catalografica.pdf: 1908550 bytes, checksum: f5e1873071e0854913a4ca08177a36bd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-17T18:35:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Alexandre Sanches Garcia com ficha catalografica.pdf: 1908550 bytes, checksum: f5e1873071e0854913a4ca08177a36bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-20 / In the last two decades, a growing number of executives have allocated time and resources on business strategy issues that involve corporate social responsibility (LACY; COWER, HAYWARD; NEUBERGER, 2010). Porter and Van der Linde (1995) already affirmed that we are passing through a phase of transition of the industrial history, in which the executives begin to realize investments in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors like an economic and competitive opportunity, instead of cost or threat. But the question that remains nanswered is: when is it worth adopting these socio-environmental strategies? The central objective of this study is to measure the socio-environmental performance of companies and their relationship with economic and financial performance, investigating under what circumstances pays-to-be-green is worth. In this sense and based on the discussions in competitive socio-environmental strategies, such as the Porter Hypothesis and the Natural Resource Based View (NRBV), in addition to the literature on institutional and stakeholder theories, the present study sought to show performance in ESG of companies in various circumstances. Considering the institutional, cultural and regulatory differences between countries, the ESG performance and its relation to the financial performance of companies from emerging and developed countries were investigated. It also investigated whether the company's stock sustainability index results in better performance, ESG and financial, compared to companies not listed in these indexes. Through the ASSET4 database, the panel data methodology was used with 2,165 companies from developed and emerging countries. The results allow us not to reject the hypotheses raised that there is a prevalence of the institutional environment in relation to financial performance and ESG performance, indicating that there is a positive association in the economic-financial performance and ESG of companies only in developed countries. In companies in emerging countries, this relationship is negative. In addition, it has been found that being listed on a stock exchange sustainability index, while bringing better ESG performance to the company, does not cause a reflection on its economic-financial performance. Additionally, it was found that companies belonging to sectors of economic activities considered controversial have better ESG performance than companies from other sectors. These results contribute to the debate on the theme "pays-to-be-green", showing that possible methodological differences used in several academic works explain the contradictory results found so far. The results of this work show that corporate executives and public managers from emerging economies still have a long way to go in pursuing ESG best practices. / Nas últimas duas décadas, um número crescente de executivos tem alocado tempo e recursos em assuntos de estratégia empresarial que envolve a responsabilidade social das organizações (LACY; COOPER; HAYWARD; NEUBERGER, 2010). Porter e Van der Linde (1995) já afirmava que estamos passando uma fase de transição da história industrial, na qual os executivos começam a perceber investimentos em fatores Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) como uma oportunidade econômica e competitiva, ao invés de custo ou ameaça. Mas a pergunta que ainda fica sem resposta é: quando vale a pena adotar essas estratégias socioambientais? O objetivo central desse estudo é a mensuração do desempenho socioambiental das empresas e sua relação com o desempenho econômico-financeiro investigando em que circunstâncias vale a pena ser verde (pays-to-be-green). Nesse sentido e pautado pelas discussões em estratégias socioambientais competitivas, como a Hipótese de Porter e a Natural Resource Based View (NRBV), além da literatura das teorias institucional e do stakeholder, o presente estudo buscou mostrar o desempenho ESG das empresas em diversas circunstâncias. Considerando as diferenças institucional, cultural e regulamentar entre países, foram investigados os desempenhos ESG e sua relação com o desempenho financeiro das empresas pertencentes a países emergentes e de países desenvolvidos. Também investigou se o fato da empresa pertencer a índices de sustentabilidade de bolsas de valores resulta em melhores desempenhos, ESG e financeiro, comparados às empresas não listadas nesses índices. Por meio do banco de dados ASSET4, foi utilizada a metodologia de dados em painel com 2.165 empresas de países desenvolvidos e de países emergentes. Os resultados permitem não rejeitar as hipóteses levantadas de que há prevalência do ambiente institucional na relação desempenho financeiro e desempenho ESG, indicando que há associação positiva no desempenho econômico-financeiro e ESG das empresas somente dos países desenvolvidos. Já nas empresas de países emergentes essa relação é negativa. Além disso, verificou-se que estar listada em índice de sustentabilidade de bolsas de valores, embora gere melhor desempenho ESG para a empresa, não causa reflexo no seu desempenho econômico-financeiro. Adicionalmente, foi constatado que empresas pertencentes a setores de atividades econômicas consideradas polêmicas possuem melhor desempenho ESG do que empresas dos outros setores. Tais resultados contribuem para o debate do tema “pays-to-be-green”, mostrando que possíveis diferenças metodológicas utilizadas em diversos trabalhos acadêmicos explicam os resultados contraditórios até então encontrados. Os resultados desse trabalho mostram que os executivos das empresas e gestores públicos de países de economia emergente ainda tem um longo caminho a percorrer na buscar por melhores práticas ESG.