IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i14p6110-d1437174.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and ESG Scores: Do They Tell the Same Story?

Author

Listed:
  • Minoo Tehrani

    (Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI 02809, USA)

  • Andreas Rathgeber

    (Institute of Materials Resource Management, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany)

  • Edward Dougherty

    (Mathematical Sciences, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI 02840, USA)

  • Lawrence Fulton

    (Boston College, Woods College of Advance Studies, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA)

  • James Fournier

    (Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI 02809, USA)

Abstract

The focal point of this research is to compare two of the largest global organizations’ sustainability indices and scores, namely Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSIs) and Standard & Poor’s Global (S&P Global) ESG scores (environmental, social, and governance), which rank companies based on their sustainability practices, and to learn if they correspond to each other. Considering that Germany is the hub of large companies from leading global industries, this research compares the ESG scores of the German companies that appear on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Several statistical analyses are conducted to determine if the German companies on the DJSIs correspond with high ESG scores. The years under consideration are 2018 through 2023. The results of this research indicate that DJSIs and ESG scores do not tell the same story and there are discrepancies regarding the sustainability practices of the studied companies that are added to the DJSIs and the assigned high ESG scores by S&P Global.

Suggested Citation

  • Minoo Tehrani & Andreas Rathgeber & Edward Dougherty & Lawrence Fulton & James Fournier, 2024. "Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and ESG Scores: Do They Tell the Same Story?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:6110-:d:1437174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/6110/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/14/6110/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ester Clementino & Richard Perkins, 2021. "How Do Companies Respond to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ratings? Evidence from Italy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(2), pages 379-397, June.
    2. Meltem Kılıç & Hasan Emin Gurler & Ahmet Kaya & Chang Won Lee, 2022. "The Impact of Sustainability Performance on Financial Performance: Does Firm Size Matter? Evidence from Turkey and South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-19, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jianzhuang Zheng & Muhammad Usman Khurram & Lifeng Chen, 2022. "Can Green Innovation Affect ESG Ratings and Financial Performance? Evidence from Chinese GEM Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-32, July.
    2. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    3. Helfaya, Akrum & Aboud, Ahmed & Amin, Essam, 2023. "An examination of corporate environmental goals disclosure, sustainability performance and firm value – An Egyptian evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    4. Dunbar, Kwamie & Treku, Daniel & Sarnie, Robert & Hoover, Jack, 2023. "What does ESG risk premia tell us about mutual fund sustainability levels: A difference-in-differences analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. Wang, Jianli & Wang, Shaolin & Dong, Minghua & Wang, Hongxia, 2024. "ESG rating disagreement and stock returns: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Juan Oliveros Fontaine & Cristina del Campo & Elena Urquía-Grande, 2024. "What Are Investors Most Interested in about Sustainability? An Approach from the Scientific Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Ibrahim Mutambik & Abdullah Almuqrin, 2024. "The Best of Both Worlds: How Financial Growth Can Engender Improved Sustainability for Businesses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Marius Banke & Stephanie Lenger & Christiane Pott, 2022. "ESG Ratings in the Corporate Reporting of DAX40 Companies in Germany: Effects on Market Participants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, August.
    9. Edna Aparecida Greggio Possebon & Felippe Aparecido Cippiciani & José Roberto Ferreira Savoia & Frédéric de Mariz, 2024. "ESG Scores and Performance in Brazilian Public Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Jorge Antunes & Peter Wanke & Thiago Fonseca & Yong Tan, 2023. "Do ESG Risk Scores Influence Financial Distress? Evidence from a Dynamic NDEA Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-32, May.
    11. Ahmet Kaya & Dragan Pamucar & Hasan Emin Gürler & Mehmet Ozcalici, 2024. "Determining the financial performance of the firms in the Borsa Istanbul sustainability index: integrating multi criteria decision making methods with simulation," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-44, December.
    12. Fiordelisi, Franco & Ricci, Ornella & Santilli, Gianluca, 2023. "Environmental engagement and stock price crash risk: Evidence from the European banking industry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Weihua Qu & Na Sun, 2024. "Does CSR Improve the Quality of Economic Growth? Based on the Perspective of Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-26, August.
    14. Louis Maximilian Ronalter & Merce Bernardo & Javier Manuel Romaní, 2023. "Quality and environmental management systems as business tools to enhance ESG performance: a cross-regional empirical study," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 9067-9109, September.
    15. Serhii Lehenchuk & Iryna Zhyhlei & Olena Ivashko & Grzegorz Gliszczyński, 2023. "The Impact of Sustainability Reporting on Financial Performance: Evidence from Turkish FBT and TCL Sectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-13, October.
    16. Caterina Lucarelli & Sabrina Severini, 2024. "Anatomy of the chimera: Environmental, Social, and Governance ratings beyond the myth," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4198-4217, July.
    17. Ahmed Attia, 2023. "Effect of Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management on Organizational Performance in the Context of the Egyptian Textile Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Renhong Wu & Jinbao Li & Yunhai Dai & Xiangdong Shen & Md. Alamgir Hossain, 2024. "Impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance on Innovation in Chinese Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-24, August.
    19. Muhtar Sapiri & Aditya Halim Perdana Kusuma Putra, 2023. "Causality of Bank Financial Performance, Green Bond, CSR, Green Financing Portfolio and CO2 Emissions in Transportation: Evidence from Indonesia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 511-522, November.
    20. Doyoon Kim & Dongyoub Shin & Jaehong Lee & Grimm Noh, 2024. "Sustainability from institutionalism: determinants of Korean companies’ ESG performances," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(3), pages 393-425, July.

    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:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:14:p:6110-:d:1437174. 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.