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Corporate Sustainability in Bangladeshi Banks: Proactive or Reactive Ethical Behavior?

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  • Olaf Weber

    (School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

  • Rezaul Karim Chowdury

    (School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the connection between the sustainability performance and financial performance of Bangladeshi banks to explore the impact of the Bangladesh Environmental Risk Management Guideline. We analyzed all 56 scheduled commercial banks that are currently operating in Bangladesh under the guidelines of the Central Bank of Bangladesh. Data for the sample has been collected from publicly available reports such as annual, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, disclosed sustainability and financial information on the banks’ websites, including all bank branches, and data published from the Central Bank. Data has been analyzed using panel regression. Our results indicate that higher sustainability performance creates a higher financial performance, and that bigger banks perform better with regard to sustainability than smaller banks. The analysis did not find, however, that higher financial performance influences the sustainability performance of the banks positively. Consequently, this research contributes to the research on legitimacy-driven behavior of Bangladeshi banks. This behavior rather leads to a reactive adoption of sustainability activities instead of proactive behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Olaf Weber & Rezaul Karim Chowdury, 2020. "Corporate Sustainability in Bangladeshi Banks: Proactive or Reactive Ethical Behavior?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:19:p:7999-:d:420514
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    2. Aghilasse Kashi & Mohamed Eskandar Shah, 2023. "Bibliometric Review on Sustainable Finance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-30, April.
    3. Markus Riegler, 2023. "Towards a definition of sustainable banking - a consolidated approach in the context of guidelines and strategies," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, December.
    4. Jing Chen & Abu Bakkar Siddik & Guang-Wen Zheng & Mohammad Masukujjaman & Sodikov Bekhzod, 2022. "The Effect of Green Banking Practices on Banks’ Environmental Performance and Green Financing: An Empirical Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Md. Nur-E-Alam Siddique & Shifa Mohd Nor & Zizah Che Senik & Nor Asiah Omar, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility as the Pathway to Sustainable Banking: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Carè, R. & Fatima, R. & Boitan, I.A., 2024. "Central banks and climate risks: Where we are and where we are going?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1200-1229.

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