IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v15y2022i6p237-d824530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The ESG Disclosure and the Financial Performance of Norwegian Listed Firms

Author

Listed:
  • George Giannopoulos

    (Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston upon Thames, London KT2 7LB, UK)

  • Renate Victoria Kihle Fagernes

    (Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston upon Thames, London KT2 7LB, UK)

  • Mahmoud Elmarzouky

    (Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston upon Thames, London KT2 7LB, UK)

  • Kazi Abul Bashar Muhammad Afzal Hossain

    (Kingston Business School, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston upon Thames, London KT2 7LB, UK)

Abstract

The world is constantly changing, and with an evolving global environmental crisis, there is a growing trend of Corporate Social Responsibility, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure initiatives. The final report on the new E.U. taxonomy for sustainable activities was released in 2020, making ESG disclosure more relevant. This paper investigates the effects of ESG initiatives on the financial performance of Norwegian listed companies from 2010 to 2019. ESG is measured through the Thomson Reuters Eikon ESG disclosure score and financial performance through ROA and Tobin’s Q. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this relationship has been investigated in Norway. Using panel data regression analysis and two proxies for the dependent variable (financial performance), the results of this study are mixed. In particular, findings suggest a strong significant relationship between ESG initiatives and financial performance. More specifically, the regression model, with ROA as the dependent variable, suggests that ESG initiatives have a clear negative impact. On the other hand, the variable Tobin’s Q increases when ESG increases. This could be explained by the different horizons of the measures and other factors affecting the business environment.

Suggested Citation

  • George Giannopoulos & Renate Victoria Kihle Fagernes & Mahmoud Elmarzouky & Kazi Abul Bashar Muhammad Afzal Hossain, 2022. "The ESG Disclosure and the Financial Performance of Norwegian Listed Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:6:p:237-:d:824530
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/6/237/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/15/6/237/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vicente Lima Crisóstomo & Fátima de Souza Freire & Felipe Cortes de Vasconcellos, 2011. "Corporate social responsibility, firm value and financial performance in Brazil," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 295-309, July.
    2. Nollet, Joscha & Filis, George & Mitrokostas, Evangelos, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: A non-linear and disaggregated approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 400-407.
    3. Gunnar Friede & Timo Busch & Alexander Bassen, 2015. "ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 210-233, October.
    4. Andreas G. F. Hoepner & Lisa Schopohl, 2018. "On the Price of Morals in Markets: An Empirical Study of the Swedish AP-Funds and the Norwegian Government Pension Fund," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 665-692, September.
    5. Thomas Laudal, 2011. "Drivers and barriers of CSR and the size and internationalization of firms," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 234-256, July.
    6. Yves Fassin & Andrea Werner & Annick van Rossem & Silvana Signori & Elisabeth Garriga & Heidi von Weltzien Hoivik & Hans-Jörg Schlierer, 2015. "CSR and Related Terms in SME Owner–Managers' Mental Models in Six European Countries : National Context Matters," Post-Print hal-02313143, HAL.
    7. Darren D. Lee & Robert W. Faff & Kim Langfield-Smith, 2009. "Revisiting the Vexing Question: Does Superior Corporate Social Performance Lead to Improved Financial Performance?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 34(1), pages 21-49, June.
    8. Jun Xie & Wataru Nozawa & Michiyuki Yagi & Hidemichi Fujii & Shunsuke Managi, 2019. "Do environmental, social, and governance activities improve corporate financial performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 286-300, February.
    9. Galema, Rients & Plantinga, Auke & Scholtens, Bert, 2008. "The stocks at stake: Return and risk in socially responsible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 2646-2654, December.
    10. Markus Hang & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Andreas W. Rathgeber, 2019. "It is merely a matter of time: A meta‐analysis of the causality between environmental performance and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 257-273, February.
    11. Thomas Laudal, 2011. "Drivers and barriers of CSR and the size and internationalization of firms," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(2), pages 234-256, June.
    12. Mark Bagnoli & Susan G. Watts, 2003. "Selling to Socially Responsible Consumers: Competition and The Private Provision of Public Goods," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 419-445, September.
    13. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    14. Jae-Joon Han & Hyun Jeong Kim & Jeongmin Yu, 2016. "Empirical study on relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance in Korea," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 61-76, December.
    15. Niklas Kreander & Ken McPhail & Vivien Beattie, 2015. "Charity ethical investments in Norway and the UK," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(4), pages 581-617, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marta Szczepańczyk & Paweł Nowodziński & Adam Sikorski, 2023. "ESG Strategy and Financial Aspects Using the Example of an Oil and Gas Midstream Company: The UNIMOT Group," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-24, September.
    2. López-Cabarcos, M. Ángeles & Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan & Quiñoá-Piñeiro, Lara & López-Pérez, M. Luisa, 2024. "Water and waste management strategies as drivers of the financial performance of food companies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    3. Asiyenur Helhel & Eray Akgun & Yesim Helhel, 2024. "Did ESG Affect the Financial Performance of North American Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Firms in the Second Period of the Kyoto Protocol?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Anggita Langgeng WIJAYA & Ima Widha RATNASARI, 2023. "The Effect of the Audit Committee on the Firm Value of State-Owned Enterprises in Indonesia: The Mediation Role of Financial Performance," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 4(6), pages 60-72, June.
    5. Heonyong JUNG, 2024. "The Moderating Effect Of Board Characteristics In The Relationship Between Esg And Corporate Financial Performance," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 19(2), pages 110-119, August.
    6. Xinxin Che & Chenhua Song & Jining Li, 2024. "How Do Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Factors Affect Financial Performance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-24, November.
    7. Yu‐Chuan Chen & Tai‐Yu Lin & Yung‐ho Chiu & Ching‐I Yang, 2024. "An exploration of operational efficiency, market efficiency, and sustainable development in the banking industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4819-4848, September.
    8. Shiyu Wu & Xinyi Li & Xiaosen Du & Zexin Li, 2022. "The Impact of ESG Performance on Firm Value: The Moderating Role of Ownership Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    9. V. Veeravel & E. K. S. Sadharma & Bandi Kamaiah, 2024. "Do ESG disclosures lead to superior firm performance? A method of moments panel quantile regression approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 741-754, January.
    10. Catarina Cepeda, 2024. "Can Crisis Periods Affect the ESG Reporting Scope? The Portuguese Euronext Entities Case," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, WeiWei & Padmanabhan, Prasad & Huang, Chia-Hsing, 2024. "ESG and debt structure: Is the nature of this relationship nonlinear?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Eduardo Duque-Grisales & Javier Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021. "Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Scores and Financial Performance of Multilatinas: Moderating Effects of Geographic International Diversification and Financial Slack," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 315-334, January.
    3. DasGupta, Ranjan & Roy, Arup, 2023. "Firm environmental, social, governance and financial performance relationship contradictions: Insights from institutional environment mediation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    4. Hasan F. Baklaci & William I-Wei Cheng & Jianing Zhang, 2024. "Performance Attributes of Environmental, Social, and Governance Exchange-Traded Funds," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 31(2), pages 307-334, June.
    5. Pruthiranjan Dwibedi & Debasis Pahi & Antarjyami Sahu, 2024. "Mapping the landscape of environmental, social and governance research: A bibliometric analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 3745-3767, September.
    6. Andreas G. F. Hoepner & Lisa Schopohl, 2020. "State Pension Funds and Corporate Social Responsibility: Do Beneficiaries’ Political Values Influence Funds’ Investment Decisions?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 489-516, September.
    7. Veltri, Stefania & Bruni, Maria Elena & Iazzolino, Gianpaolo & Morea, Donato & Baldissarro, Giovanni, 2023. "Do ESG factors improve utilities corporate efficiency and reduce the risk perceived by credit lending institutions? An empirical analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Wang, Kai & Li, Tingting & San, Ziyao & Gao, Hao, 2023. "How does corporate ESG performance affect stock liquidity? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Dingzu Zhang & Luqi Liu, 2022. "Does ESG Performance Enhance Financial Flexibility? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.
    10. Claudio Nuber & Patrick Velte & Jacob Hörisch, 2020. "The curvilinear and time‐lagging impact of sustainability performance on financial performance: Evidence from Germany," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 232-243, January.
    11. Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Pham, Linh & Nguyen, Thanh Thi Phuong, 2023. "Does country sustainability improve firm ESG reporting transparency? The moderating role of firm industry and CSR engagement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    12. Juan Pineiro-Chousa & Noelia Romero-Castro & Marcos Vizcaíno-González, 2019. "Inclusions in and Exclusions from the S&P 500 Environmental and Socially Responsible Index: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-31, February.
    13. Monika Wieczorek-Kosmala & Dorota Marquardt & Jarosław Kurpanik, 2021. "Drivers of Sustainable Performance in European Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, October.
    14. Yanbing Wang & Michael S. Delgado & Jin Xu, 2023. "When and where does it pay to be green? – A look into socially responsible investing and the cost of equity capital," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-23, December.
    15. Takuya Kiriu & Masatoshi Nozaki, 2020. "A Text Mining Model to Evaluate Firms’ ESG Activities: An Application for Japanese Firms," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 27(4), pages 621-632, December.
    16. Massimiliano Cerciello & Francesco Busato & Simone Taddeo, 2023. "The effect of sustainable business practices on profitability. Accounting for strategic disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 802-819, March.
    17. Heonyong JUNG, 2024. "The Moderating Effect Of Board Characteristics In The Relationship Between Esg And Corporate Financial Performance," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 19(2), pages 110-119, August.
    18. Gaurav Jyoti & Ashu Khanna, 2024. "How does sustainability performance affect firms' market performance? An empirical investigation in the Indian context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 20457-20483, August.
    19. José-Luis Godos-Díez & Laura Cabeza-García & Cristina Fernández-González, 2018. "Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Internationalisation Strategies: A Descriptive Study in the Spanish Context," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, October.
    20. Remo-Diez, Nieves & Mendaña-Cuervo, Cristina & Arenas-Parra, Mar, 2023. "Exploring the asymmetric impact of sustainability reporting on financial performance in the utilities sector: A longitudinal comparative analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:15:y:2022:i:6:p:237-:d:824530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.