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This research analyzes the influence of environmental social governance, research and development, intellectual capital, and leverage on firm value. Three control variables are included: size, age, and type of company. Secondary data in the form of ESG risk scores and annual reports of 22 companies listed on IDX ESG leaders for the 2018-2022 period with a total of 110 observations is used. The data analysis employs is multiple linear regression. The research results reveals that research and development influences company value, meaning that the level of R&D can impact the value and sustainability of the company. Intellectual capital influences company value, showing that increased productivity due to creativity, expertise that comes from knowledge, and the support of good systems and relationships can improve the company. Meanwhile, environmental social governance does not affect firm value because markets in developing countries are at a stage of economic growth and development that pays more attention to the scale and speed of economic growth and financial indicators than environmental, social, and governance responsibilities. Leverage does not effect firm value because changes in leverage tend not to affect stock prices in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial surge in ESG research has triggered a wide dissemination of research across various domains, underscoring the need for an extensive appraisal of the complex ESG landscape. This paper is grounded on a sample of 441 documents retrieved from the Web of Science database, spanning from 2007 to 2023. A strategic mapping was performed to decipher the cumulative scientific knowledge by delving into the interrelations among various facets and identifying the field's basic, motor, niche, and emerging themes. We also explore the thematic evolution of ESG across distinct time frames, indicating ESG's inception, evolution, and diversification over the years. Our findings contribute to the ESG literature by categorizing it into seven clusters across the four quadrants. Results of the strategic mapping accentuate the obsolete, over‐researched and promising areas of ESG research. We find research on CSR, socially responsible investments and ESG‐firm performance themes as over‐researched areas calling for diversification. Promising research areas include the emerging association of ESG with portfolio construction, green innovations and investments, ESG controversies, information asymmetry, divergence, greenwashing, AI‐enabled universal rating mechanism, up‐grading and down‐grading of ESG scores and ESG‐linked compensations. Thematic evolution of ESG research underpins the culmination of its interplay with sustainability, emerging markets, board diversity, and green financing. Finally, the factorial analysis strengthens the reliability of the main findings, making it robust. This paper stands as the initial venture providing a comprehensive exploration of conceptual linkages, shifts, and advancements within the ESG literature through thematic mapping, offering an original contribution to the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we use a meta‐analysis to examine the performance of socially responsible investing (SRI). We find that, on average, SRI neither outperforms nor underperforms the market portfolio. However, in line with modern portfolio theory, we find that global SRI portfolios outperform regional subportfolios. Moreover, high‐quality publications, publications in finance journals and authors who publish more frequently on SRI are all less likely to report SRI outperformance. In particular, we find that including more factors in a capital market model reduces the likelihood that a study will find SRI outperformance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goal of this research is to elucidate the influence of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) performance on a company's overall performance. The research employs the ESG level as the independent variable for evaluation, which is the novelty of the study. The performance of the corporation is evaluated using various indicators, including financial performance (ROA), profitability (ROE), and Tobin's Q, which are regarded as reliant variables. Additionally, the study introduces the Modified by Jones Model of earnings management as a moderating factor. The analytical approach encompasses the application of multiple linear regression techniques. To ensure a representative sample, we conducted purposive sampling to select 120 observations from manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange that consistently maintained their ESG index during the period spanning from 2018 to 2022, including the turbulent period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this research reveal that the ESG index exerts a positive and statistically significant influence on ROA, ROE, and Tobin's Q. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that earnings management does not possess the capacity to moderate the relationship between ESG and company performance. The implications of this study are substantial, as it lends support to the application of legitimacy theory and agency theory in the context of ESG and corporate performance. However, it's important to acknowledge that the study's scope is limited to Indonesia, and consequently, the findings may not be directly applicable to other developing nations.

Financial markets have always been at the forefront of financing innovation. Green and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) derivatives provide a unique opportunity for financial markets to lead in the global fight against climate change. Sustainable-linked derivatives (SLDs) or green derivatives can be used by market participants and financial intermediaries to assess andprice thefinancialriskofclimate change. Moreover. green derivatives can be used by end-users to hedge climate change risks and minimise exposure to climate driven events. Derivatives markets andfinancial products can be at the forefront of incentivising and promoting opportunities for green friendly projects, that aim to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions and become a potent weapon in the globalfight against climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

in this article. an overview of responsible investing strategies is presented. The article provides cases of two Indian life insurance companies, ICICI Prudential Life insurance Co Ltd and HDFC Life Insurance Co Ltd, which have recently become signatories to Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI), adapted responsible investing strategies and framed their own responsibility investing policy. The aim of this article is to discuss and analyse the responsible investing strategies of ICICI and HDFC and provide implications for insurers, insurance regulators and investee companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-use efficiency (WUE) enables the comparison of the value generated from water between countries, industries and companies, and over time. Such comparisons can overlook crucial underlying differences. How can WUE be best used as a comparator? Increases in WUE assumed that water consumption has become decoupled from economic growth. This overlooks structural changes and globalization resulting in water-intensive activities being eased out of WUE reporting. Incomplete participation in corporate WUE surveys and the absence of external verification should also be considered. This paper explores ways of developing more valid WUE comparators and the value of WUE for investors concerned about water risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages, the changing trends and emerging areas of total quality management (TQM) research before and after the COVID-19 pandemic are spotlighted, while the links between TQM and environmental social governance (ESG) are deeply discussed in this study. To explore the impact of the pandemic on TQM research, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis is conducted by collecting 1465 pre-pandemic and 76 post-pandemic publications from the WoS database. Further, the fundamental characteristics, conceptual structure and intellectual and social structure of TQM research are statistically analysed through bibliometric tools. Consequently, this article methodically sorts out the evolution, new research areas, primary sources, national collaboration networks and influential themes within an intricate and large TQM research system. The linkages between ESG and TQM are explored by focussing on some emerging topics after the outbreak such as sustainability and environmental management, which advances the innovative attempt towards the goal of cooperating sustainability. Finally, we offer some enlightening new perspectives on economic construction and social life during the pandemic to better cope with the negative effects of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background: There is growing recognition that current food systems are both unhealthy and unsustainable, and are increasingly shifting toward the supply and marketing of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods and beverages. Large food companies hold substantial power within food systems and present a significant barrier to progress on addressing issues related to nutrition and obesity prevention. Institutional investors (such as pension funds) play a key role in influencing corporate governance and practices, and are increasingly incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations within investment decisions. By considering nutrition and obesity prevention, institutional investors present a potential avenue for driving increased food industry accountability for their population health impact. This study investigated views of stakeholders in the Australian investment sector on the incorporation of nutrition and obesity prevention considerations within institutional investment decision-making regarding food companies. Methods: Fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020-21. Participants were predominantly Australian-based, and included representatives from asset management companies, superannuation funds, ESG advisory/consultancy firms, ESG research providers, and relevant advocacy groups. Interviews examined challenges and opportunities to the integration of nutrition and obesity prevention considerations within institutional investment decision-making. Interviews were analysed using deductive thematic analysis, informed by a theoretical change model. Results: Several participants reported that their institution factored nutrition and obesity prevention considerations into their investment decisions; however, attention to nutrition-related issues was limited, generally perceived as ‘niche’, and not yet institutionalised. Key challenges and opportunities were identified at the employee, investment organisation, investment sector, government and non-government levels. These challenges and opportunities centred around experience and knowledge, quality and availability of ESG data and benchmarks, importance of investor coalitions, and demonstration of financial risks related to nutrition and obesity. Conclusion: There are a range of steps that could be taken to help ensure more systematic and effective consideration of issues related to nutrition and obesity prevention within institutional investment decision-making in Australia, including: (1) improved nutrition-related reporting metrics and benchmarking criteria for food companies; (2) better articulation of the financial risks that unhealthy diets and obesity pose to investors; (3) enhanced investor advocacy on unhealthy diets and obesity through investor coalitions and; (4) detailed guidance for investors on how to address unhealthy diets and obesity. Better engagement between the Australian public health community, institutional investors and government regulators is critical to drive changed investor practice in this area.

The Swiss government published a report identifying four areas for action for a leading sustainable financial centre with 15 measures and a position paper on next steps to be expected regarding the prevention of greenwashing in the financial sector, to consolidate the Swiss financial centre's leading role in sustainable finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective To survey the content of occupational safety and health (OSH) disclosed in corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related reports and integrated reports in 2020 and to compare the changes between 2012 and 2020 according to industry and company size. Results Among all companies, 441 (20.3%) issued CSR-related reports and 590 (28.1%) issued integrated reports. The number (percentage) of companies that issued either CSR-related reports or integrated reports was 880 (40.5%). The percentages of both CSR-related reports and integrated reports increased with increased company size. The number (percentage) of companies reporting OSH in CSR-related reports was 391 (88.7%) and that in integrated reports was 493 (83.6%). The percentage of OSH reporting in CSR-related reports and integrated reports was high in secondary industries and low in tertiary industries.

In this paper, after a systematic presentation of the theoretical background of the European Union regulation, we examine the Hungarian regulation and legal practice (using the websites of five listed Hungarian companies and the Budapest Stock Exchange Corporate Governance Recommendations) in connection with the identification of shareholders by the company, the verifiability of the exercise of shareholder's rights, the remuneration policy and reporting of the public company limited by shares and the approval of legal transactions concluded with related party. We also focus on financial governance and certain viewpoints of product governance, with special attention to product approval process and the issue of greenwashing. We chose to emphasize these issues since one cannot find verbatim, translations of legal acts of European Union on these fields with respect to Hungarian legislation. The other reason is that there are available practical experiences in connection with them, therefore we reflect on different anomalies. Our aim is to highlight the need to transpose and implement a legal instrument with such wide-ranging implications as sustainable finance into a thoughtful and coherent set of rules that permeate the legal system.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment strategies today are an established practice in personal and public finance. They also provide crucial benchmarks for corporate social responsibility policy in gauging the performance of due diligence and return on investment by financial managers. This study explores the growing conflict within these economic and policy networks over "value-oriented", or total financial return, and "values-oriented", or comprehensive non-financial impact, capital investment in recent years. How to balance these two discursive constructions of value in the pursuit of "sustainability" for both the economy and the environment at the same time is an operational challenge that managers, environmentalists and scientists have not yet fully answered. It also indicates how Michel Foucault's approach to the power/knowledge nexus in biopolitics provides a useful perspective on these ideologically and politically charged debates over how to invest capital and steer business activity to deliver solid returns in the market as well as support more ethical and economical public policies to respond to climate change, social injustice and governance failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is growing recognition that current food systems are both unhealthy and unsustainable, and are increasingly shifting toward the supply and marketing of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods and beverages. Large food companies hold substantial power within food systems and present a significant barrier to progress on addressing issues related to nutrition and obesity prevention. Institutional investors (such as pension funds) play a key role in influencing corporate governance and practices, and are increasingly incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations within investment decisions. By considering nutrition and obesity prevention, institutional investors present a potential avenue for driving increased food industry accountability for their population health impact. This study investigated views of stakeholders in the Australian investment sector on the incorporation of nutrition and obesity prevention considerations within institutional investment decision-making regarding food companies.Methods: Fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020-21. Participants were predominantly Australian-based, and included representatives from asset management companies, superannuation funds, ESG advisory/consultancy firms, ESG research providers, and relevant advocacy groups. Interviews examined challenges and opportunities to the integration of nutrition and obesity prevention considerations within institutional investment decision-making. Interviews were analysed using deductive thematic analysis, informed by a theoretical change model.Results: Several participants reported that their institution factored nutrition and obesity prevention considerations into their investment decisions; however, attention to nutrition-related issues was limited, generally perceived as 'niche', and not yet institutionalised. Key challenges and opportunities were identified at the employee, investment organisation, investment sector, government and non-government levels. These challenges and opportunities centred around experience and knowledge, quality and availability of ESG data and benchmarks, importance of investor coalitions, and demonstration of financial risks related to nutrition and obesity.Conclusion: There are a range of steps that could be taken to help ensure more systematic and effective consideration of issues related to nutrition and obesity prevention within institutional investment decision-making in Australia, including: (1) improved nutrition-related reporting metrics and benchmarking criteria for food companies; (2) better articulation of the financial risks that unhealthy diets and obesity pose to investors; (3) enhanced investor advocacy on unhealthy diets and obesity through investor coalitions and; (4) detailed guidance for investors on how to address unhealthy diets and obesity. Better engagement between the Australian public health community, institutional investors and government regulators is critical to drive changed investor practice in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that banks should adopt animal welfare policies in the light of the growing acceptance of the need for 'responsible banking', which incorporates environmental, social, and governance analysis into credit risk and due diligence processes. The responsibility of banks for animal welfare is underscored by the drive towards greater investment in animal agribusiness, and the vicious cycle through which animal agribusiness can both contribute to, and be impacted by, climate disruption. The article evaluates, through a desktop review, how leading Australian retail banks and agribusiness lenders are addressing animal welfare and climate disruption in animal agribusiness lending. We find that although most banks have made a commitment to animal welfare and climate policies, these often amount to little more than greenwashing. We call for an ecosystem of industry, regulatory, and civil society action to address this danger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental social governance (ESG) is a framework that assists global financial services in developing strategic ways to hedge operating and financial risks and move toward achieving United Nations' SDGs. Stakeholders consider ESG as a core value while strategizing their investment decisions in the capital market as these factors have the leveraging potential for risk return trade-off, although they are difficult to measure in financial terms. In the volatile capital markets across the globe, the ability of corporate business models to adapt to changes in the economic environment demands the consideration of ESG reporting by the external stakeholders. Thus there is rising demand for ESG reporting and analysis by external stakeholders, including stock exchanges, investors, financial analysts, and corporations, because they have the leveraging potential for risk return trade-off and for sustainable development. The present study analyzes the ESG scores for all the shares listed in the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) based on selected ranking tools. The analyzed result reveals the current sustainability landscape of businesses in KSA and suggests how responsible investors can uncover value of investment through ESG and how the benefit of this reliable, consistent, and relevant metrics fosters long-term stock market sustainability. The results of the study will enable investors to strategize their capital market-related investment decisions. The result of analysis reveals the current sustainability landscape of businesses in KSA and suggests how responsible investors can uncover value of investment through ESG scores as they consider the material components that affect corporate and investment performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability reporting is a tool for communicating the company's environmental and social reports. This study was conducted to examine how far the sustainability reports are disclosed by banks in Indonesia. Banking sustainability reports in Indonesia have been required by banking regulations since 2019. The analysis is carried out by looking at the development of banking sustainability reports and also conducting different tests before and after the implementation of mandatory sustainability reporting in banking sector. The results show that banks in Indonesia have started making sustainability reports since 2009. Total banks that disclosed sustainability reports experienced a significant increase in 2019 (22.61%) and decreased in 2020 (14.78%). The results also show that there is no difference in banking disclosures on sustainability reports between before and after obligations, that is 2 years before disclosure obligations (2017-2018) and 2 years after disclosure (2019-2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To survey the content of occupational safety and health (OSH) disclosed in corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related reports and integrated reports in 2020 and to compare the changes between 2012 and 2020 according to industry and company size. Results: Among all companies, 441 (20.3%) issued CSR-related reports and 590 (28.1%) issued integrated reports. The number (percentage) of companies that issued either CSR-related reports or integrated reports was 880 (40.5%). The percentages of both CSR-related reports and integrated reports increased with increased company size. The number (percentage) of companies reporting OSH in CSR-related reports was 391 (88.7%) and that in integrated reports was 493 (83.6%). The percentage of OSH reporting in CSR-related reports and integrated reports was high in secondary industries and low in tertiary industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial experts seek to predict the variability of financial markets to ensure investors’ successful investments. However, there has been a big trend in finance in the last few years, which are the ESG (Economic, Social and Governance) criteria, due to the growing importance of investments being socially responsible, and because of the financial impact companies suffer when not complying with them. Consequently, creating a stock portfolio should consider not only its financial performance but compliance with ESG criteria. Portfolio optimization (PO) techniques previously applied to ESG portfolios, are all closed-form analytical ones. But the real world is rather a black box with unknown analytical expressions. Thus, in this paper we use Bayesian optimization (BO), a sequential state-of-the-art design strategy to optimize black-boxes with unknown analytical and costly-to-compute expressions, to maximize the performance of a stock portfolio under the presence of ESG criteria soft constraints incorporated into the objective function. And we compare it to two other black-box techniques widely applied for the optimization of ‘conventional portfolios’ (non-ESG ones): the metaheuristics Genetic algorithm (GA) and Simulated Annealing (SA). Although BO has many theoretical advantages over GA and SA, it has never been applied to PO. Thus, this paper investigates whether BO can be used in the ESG PO framework as an alternative and compares it with GA and SA. This is the research gap to which this paper responds. To show the empirical performance of BO, we carry out four illustrative experiments and find evidence of BO outperforming the baselines. Thus we add another different optimization approach to the world of ESG investing: a black-box non-heuristic optimization approach through BO. Our study is the first paper that leverages BO and ESG scores into a PO technique. This paper opens the door to many new research lines in (ESG) portfolio optimization.

The article discusses the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into suitability procedures in Brazil's securities market. The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) published guidelines clarifying that regulated agents must consider ESG factors when assessing investor profiles to ensure that the products offered are suitable for customers. The objective is to prevent greenwashing practices and protect clients from investing in alternatives that do not align with their investment objectives. This guidance is part of CVM's Sustainable Finance Action Plan. Additionally, the article mentions new tax rules in Brazil that will affect the taxation of investments in Brazilian investment funds and income earned abroad. The new legislation imposes taxes on exclusive funds and offshore investments and will be regulated by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the launch of GPRNT, an enhanced digital reporting solution by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). GPRNT aims to provide a seamless way for businesses, both large and small, to report their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. The platform will automate the ESG reporting process and allow users to access relevant data and insights to support sustainability-related decision making. GPRNT will expand its capabilities to better serve the needs of larger multinational entities and regional economies. It will function as an inclusive and interoperable data layer, simplifying ESG reporting and converting economic data into sustainability-related information. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the initiatives launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to promote the safe and innovative use of digital money in Singapore. MAS has introduced Gprnt, an integrated digital platform that simplifies the collection and access of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data to support sustainability initiatives. MAS has also published the Orchid Blueprint, which outlines the infrastructure required for a digital Singapore dollar. Additionally, MAS will expand digital money trials and develop a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for wholesale interbank settlement. Gprnt, the new platform, aims to automate ESG reporting processes and provide timely insights for sustainability-related decision making. [Extracted from the article]

The increasing attention to sustainability issues in finance has brought a proliferation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and rating providers that results in divergences among the ESG ratings. Based on a sample of Italian listed firms, this paper investigates these divergences through a framework that decomposes ESG ratings into a value and a weight component at the pillar (i.e. E, S, and G) and category (i.e. sub-pillar) levels. We find that weights divergence and social and governance indicators are the main drivers of rating divergences. The research contributes to develop a new tool for analyzing ESG divergences and provides a number of recommendations for researchers and practitioners, stressing the need to understand what is really measured by the ESG rating agencies and the need for standardization and transparency of ESG measurement to favor a more homogeneous set of indicators.

Worldwide pension funds, in their capacity as large institutional investors, are under increasing pressure to take social and environmental considerations into account in their investment decision-making process. The concepts Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) are indeed ubiquitous in the current investment and pension community. This article aims to provide some insight into the conceptual relationship between SRI and ESG and its legal implications for the investment behaviour of private pension funds in the USA and the EU. Hence, the first part of the article gives some background to the distinct concepts of SRI and ESG. This leads to the finding that SRI goes one step further than ESG by prioritising moral or ethical considerations that may not be material to an investment's financial performance, whereas ESG functions as a guideline to enhance financial performance. The second part analyses the legal possibilities and constraints for responsible investment in American occupational pensions and the third part does the same for European occupational pensions. The article concludes with a summary and comparative overview of the American and European lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement quality of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating is important, considering the increasing interest in socially responsible investment. This paper examines the measurement quality of four ESG ratings. Comprehensive analysis of the ratings, including its dimensionality, reliability, and validity suggests that they have significantly different measurement construct and measurement concerns, despite some commonalities. This study also presents a novel approach to examine the convergence of ESG ratings by assessing the level of agreement. The results of interrater reliability analysis suggest that while the agreement between ESG scores is low, there is evidence of a low to moderate agreement of ESG rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) as proxy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate firm's performance (CFP) in the context of Pakistani financial and non-financial firms sectors. This study comprises two main firm's performance indicators such as market base (excess stock returns) and accounting base (returns on assets and returns on capital). The data set starts from 2011 to 2017 and consists of three hundred and fifty (350) firms on equal numbers of financial and non-financial firms. This study uses a non-linear and disaggregated approach for data analysis. The results of the linear model indicate that CSP and returns on capital have a negative relationship, while the non-linear model of CSP and accounting base performance as CFP have positive association in the domain of long run. There is a significant relationship that exist among environmental social governance (ESG) disclosure score, government sub-components score, and social performance. However, a U-shaped association found between CFP and government sub-components, which further suggest that governance has a vital role toward CSP and CFP components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the literature measuring the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and firm performance treats the score as a measure of sustainability performance. In this study, we treat a firm's ESG score as a demonstration of strategic choice in the level of transparency that results in increased firm performance as measured by Tobin's Q and return on assets. Performance differences are a result of choice moderated by the size of the firm as measured by employees and sales. We analyze 467 firms in the S&P 500 from 2009 to 2015. Applying legitimacy and stakeholder theory, we find that there is significant difference between groups with respect to disclosure and performance. The results of quartile analysis by sales, capitalization, and Tobin's Q are relevant to understand the influence that the ESG score has on financial performance. ESG influences on Tobin's Q are greatest for large firms as measured by sales, as opposed to the ESG affects on Tobin's Q and return on asset for smallest firms as measured by market capitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a straightforward measure of the residual unsystematic risk that a selective portfolio investment strategy, such as socially responsible investment, eventually bears. The model is empirically employed in order to analyse whether the MSCI socially responsible indices bear significant levels of volatility that could be diversified by not imposing social screenings to the set of eligible investments. The study finds that a low but not negligible part of the volatility of the returns could be diversified by not restricting the investment to socially responsible companies. Implications for the socially responsible investing industry and socially responsible investors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and corporate financial performance (CFP) has received much attention. Previous studies have mainly focused on the net effects of ESG on CFP, i.e., emphasizing the individual impact of the overall ESG level or each ESG pillar on CFP. However, there is a complex causal relationship between ESG and CFP, and different combinations of ESG pillars may have a differential impact on CFP. Based on configuration theory, this paper aims to analyze how the different configurations of the ESG pillars impact CFP using the longitudinal fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach. Using a sample of listed new energy companies in China from 2016 to 2020, we identified two configurations that generate high CFP and four that generate low CFP. The social pillar is a determinant in generating high CFP outcomes, and it has shown stability in its configuration across time. The study will contribute to guiding new energy companies to strengthen their corporate social responsibility practices and expand the application of the fsQCA in longitudinal datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes both to investigating the link between the corporate social and financial performance based on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) ratings and to reviewing the existing empirical evidence pertaining to this relationship. The sample used includes ESG data of ASSET4, Bloomberg and KLD for the U.S. market from 1991 to 2012. The econometrical framework applies an ESG portfolio approach using the Carhart (1997) four-factor model as well as cross-sectional Fama and MacBeth (1973) regressions. Previous empirical research indicates a relationship between ESG ratings and returns. As against this, the ESG portfolios do not state a significant return difference between companies with high and low ESG ratings. Although the Fama and MacBeth (1973) regressions reveal a significant influence of several ESG variables, investors are hardly able to exploit this relationship. The magnitude and direction of the impact are substantially dependent on the rating provider, the company sample and the particular subperiod. The results suggest that investors should no longer expect abnormal returns by trading a difference portfolio of high and low rated firms with regard to ESG aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]