IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ijcgvn/v17y2024i1p130-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Social Pillar of ESG: Exploring the Link Between Social Sustainability and Stock Price Synchronicity

Author

Listed:
  • Srikanth Potharla
  • Surya Kumari Turubilli
  • Mylavaram Chandra Shekar

Abstract

This study examined the association between the social sustainability aspects of environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and stock price synchronicity in 146 publicly listed companies in India from 2011 to 2021. Social sustainability is gauged using indicators such as community engagement, adherence to human rights, customer loyalty, consumer health and safety protection, and employee welfare. Panel data regression with industry-year fixed effects reveals a positive association between social sustainability and stock price synchronicity. This finding suggests that the stocks of companies with strong social issue management are more aligned with market movements. The findings indicate that investors value ethical management, commitment to human rights and employee satisfaction. The insights provided by this study are vital for investors’ fund allocation decisions, highlighting the importance of workforce and supply chain diversity, fair workplace practices, human rights compliance and product integrity in informed investment decision-making. Overall, the research confirms the economic benefits that social sustainability bestows on companies and their investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Srikanth Potharla & Surya Kumari Turubilli & Mylavaram Chandra Shekar, 2024. "The Social Pillar of ESG: Exploring the Link Between Social Sustainability and Stock Price Synchronicity," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 17(1), pages 130-152, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ijcgvn:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:130-152
    DOI: 10.1177/09746862241236551
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09746862241236551
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09746862241236551?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Larelle Chapple & Jacquelyn Humphrey, 2014. "Does Board Gender Diversity Have a Financial Impact? Evidence Using Stock Portfolio Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 709-723, July.
    2. Bharat Kumar Meher & Iqbal Thonse Hawaldar & Latasha Mohapatra & Cristi Spulbar & Ramona Birau, 2020. "The Effects of Environment, Society and Governance Scores on Investment Returns and Stock Market Volatility," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 234-239.
    3. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    4. Eduardo Schiehll & Sam Kolahgar, 2021. "Financial materiality in the informativeness of sustainability reporting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 840-855, February.
    5. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Ghouma, Hatem, 2018. "Employee welfare and stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 700-725.
    6. Chauhan, Yogesh & Kumar, Surya B., 2018. "Do investors value the nonfinancial disclosure in emerging markets?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 32-46.
    7. Artyom Durnev & Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung & Paul Zarowin, 2003. "Does Greater Firm‐Specific Return Variation Mean More or Less Informed Stock Pricing?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 797-836, December.
    8. Jiao, Yawen, 2010. "Stakeholder welfare and firm value," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2549-2561, October.
    9. Gnanakumar Visvanathan, 2017. "Intangible assets on the balance sheet and audit fees," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(3), pages 241-250, August.
    10. Zhang, Chendi & Edmans, Alex & Li, Lucius, 2014. "Employee Satisfaction, Labor Market Flexibility, and Stock Returns Around The World," CEPR Discussion Papers 10066, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Tseng, Kuo C, 1988. "Low Price, Price-Earnings Ratio, Market Value, and Abnormal Stock Returns," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 23(3), pages 333-343, August.
    12. Pahud de Mortanges, Charles & van Riel, Allard, 2003. "Brand Equity and Shareholder Value," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 521-527, August.
    13. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 621-640, September.
    14. Yilmaz Yildiz & Selin Metin Camgoz, 2019. "Brand Equity and Firm Risk: An Empirical Investigation in an Emerging Market," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(1), pages 218-235, January.
    15. Chen, Hong-Yi & Yang, Sharon S., 2020. "Do Investors exaggerate corporate ESG information? Evidence of the ESG momentum effect in the Taiwanese market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    16. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    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. 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).
    2. Sylvain Marsat & Benjamin Williams, 2016. "Does the Market Value the Social Dimension? International Evidence," Bankers, Markets & Investors, ESKA Publishing, issue 142, pages 28-40, May-June.
    3. Sylvain Marsat & Benjamin Williams, 2016. "Does the market value the social dimension? International evidence," Post-Print hal-02156613, HAL.
    4. Bae, Jaewan & Kang, Jangkoo, 2024. "Asset pricing implications of firms' profit sharing," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Amidu P. Mansaray & Liu Yuanyuan & Sesay Brima, 2017. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Financial Performance of Firms in Africa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(5), pages 137-146.
    6. Srikanth Potharla & Neeraj Kumar & Pooja Choudhary & Surya Kumari Turubilli, 2024. "Is ESG Data Financially Viable? A Case of Stock Price Synchronicity," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 49(1), pages 62-81, February.
    7. Shima Amini & Sofia Johan & Eilnaz Kashefi Pour & Abdulkadir Mohamed, 2023. "Employee Welfare, Social Capital, and IPO Firm Survival," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2174-2204, November.
    8. Ben Lahouel, Béchir & Ben Zaied, Younes & Managi, Shunsuke & Taleb, Lotfi, 2022. "Re-thinking about U: The relevance of regime-switching model in the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 498-519.
    9. Zuo, Junqing & Zhang, Wei & Hu, Mingya & Feng, Xu & Zou, Gaofeng, 2022. "Employee relations and stock price crash risk: Evidence from employee lawsuits," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. А. Dornean & D.-C. Oanea, 2018. "The Іmpact of Adopting CSR and Corporate Financial Performance. Evidence from BSE," Вестник Киевского национального университета имени Тараса Шевченко. Экономика., Socionet;Киевский национальный университет имени Тараса Шевченко, vol. 6(201), pages 47-53.
    11. Cellier, Alexis & Chollet, Pierre, 2016. "The effects of social ratings on firm value," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 656-683.
    12. Somya Arora & Jagan Kumar Sur & Yogesh Chauhan, 2022. "Does corporate social responsibility affect shareholder value? Evidence from the COVID‐19 crisis," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 325-334, June.
    13. Bilal Mehmood & Syed Hassan Raza & Mahwish Rana & Huma Sohaib & Muhammad Azhar Khan, 2014. "Triangular Relationship between Energy Consumption, Price Index and National Income in Asian Countries: A Pooled Mean Group Approach in Presence of Structural Breaks," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 4(4), pages 610-620.
    14. Jean C. Kouam & Simplice Asongu, 2022. "The non-linear effects of fixed broadband on economic growth in Africa," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 50(5), pages 881-895, August.
    15. Ranjan Aneja & Umer J. Banday & Tanzeem Hasnat & Mustafa Koçoglu, 2017. "Renewable and Non-renewable Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Panel Error Correction Model," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 6(1), pages 76-85, June.
    16. Eicher, Theo S. & Schreiber, Till, 2010. "Structural policies and growth: Time series evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 169-179, January.
    17. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Size-threshold effect in debt-firm performance nexus in the sub-Saharan region: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 335-344.
    18. Neil A. Wilmot & Ariuna Taivan, 2021. "Examining the Impact of Financial Development on Energy Production in Emerging Economies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, February.
    19. Balázs Égert, 2018. "Regulation, Institutions and Aggregate Investment: New Evidence from OECD Countries," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 415-449, April.
    20. Balázs Égert, 2016. "Regulation, Institutions, and Productivity: New Macroeconomic Evidence from OECD Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 109-113, May.

    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:sae:ijcgvn:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:130-152. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.