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We investigated the impact of Economic Sustainability (ES) practices of digitally oriented industrial companies in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in various horizons. The relevance is underpinned by numerous controversies in the literature on the topic. The sample included 257 industrial companies from BRICS in 2017-2021. Economic profit in the long-term and short-term was measured by Total Shareholder Return (TSR) and Economic Value Added (EVA), respectively. We found that the improvements in resource use, enhancements in the workforce and responsible product development had a positive and significant influence on the TSR of BRICS companies. Conversely, we discovered the negative impact of social practices on companies' EVA. Firms from Brazil and India with stronger ESG practices provided higher returns for shareholders, while there was a significant and negative linkage between ES and EVA for Chinese firms. Crossindustry analysis showed that ESG practices had an additional positive and significant impact on the TSR of firms in the basic materials and technology sectors. However, there was an additional negative and significant impact of ES practices on EVA in consumer cyclical and energy sectors. The novelty is driven by (1) exploring the impact of ESG practices on companies' value at BRICS; (2) considering previously overlooked metrics of TSR and EVA; and (3) applying granular ES metrics instead of aggregated ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green bond market helps to mobilize financial sources toward sustainable investments. Green bonds are similar to conventional bonds but are specifically designed to raise money to finance environmental projects. The feature of green bonds is the existence of greenium, or the lower yield compared to "conventional" bonds of the same risk. The relevance of the paper is underpinned by the mixed evidence on the existence of 'greenium', especially in corporate green bond markets; there has been limited research on the topic and a narrow focus on global, US, or Chinese green bond markets. Instead, the greenium in European debt markets remains underexplored. The objective of this study is to investigate the existence of greenium and its key determinants in European corporate debt capital markets, including the local markets of the United Kingdom (UK), France, Netherlands, and Germany. The sample included 3851 corporate bonds, both green and conventional ones, between 2007 and 2021 from 33 European countries. Linear regression was applied for the analysis. The results show that the climate corporate bonds in Europe are priced at a discount to the same-risk conventional corporate bonds. The magnitude of greenium is around 3 bps. Determinants of greenium include the presence of an ESG rating and belonging to the utility and financial industry. The remaining drivers of bond yields in the European corporate debt market are the credit quality (expressed by the level of credit rating), the coupon size, the bond tenor, the market liquidity, and macroeconomic variables (growth of gross domestic product and consumer price index). For the local corporate debt markets, our results are controversial. In all markets under consideration except for the UK and the Netherlands, we did not find sustainable evidence of greenium. The results of the research lead to a better understanding of the green bond market for investors, researchers, regulators, and potential issuing companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable growth is the key global priority, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives have become the main point of attention in companies' digital transformation strategies. ESG and digital transformation reinforce each other as they aim to improve efficiency and meet stakeholders inside and outside the company. This is true for telecommunication companies, where disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data or cloud computing are reshaping the industry. Assessment of the impact of sustainability disclosures on companies' value is a task of high interest for academics and practitioners from telecommunication companies. ESG disclosure serves as a key channel to inform investors about the efficiency of ESG risk management and control practices of the firm and thus can impact the firm's financial performance and market value. However, there are numerous controversies in the academic literature on this topic and a lack of research specifically for the telecommunication industry. We closed the research gaps and investigated the impact of ESG disclosure on Tobin-Q of 93 US-listed telecommunication service companies between 2011-2021. We found that aggregated ESG disclosure score positively impacted telecoms' Tobin-Q. Among individual ESG disclosure pillars, only corporate governance positively influenced Tobin-Q, while the impact of environmental and social pillars was statistically insignificant. We also found that CEO duality significantly and negatively impacted Tobin-Q. The presence of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee, greater gender diversity and a higher percentage of independent directors on the board positively affected the value of the telecoms. The result of the study can be applied in developing ESG rating methodologies for telecommunication companies. They can also assist telecom companies' managers and stakeholders to identify key value drivers of the ESG agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]