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The effects of sustainable development on firms' financial performance - an empirical approach

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  • Dong-shang Chang

    (National Central University, Department of Business Administration, Jhongli City, Taiwan)

  • Li-chin Regina Kuo

    (National Central University, Department of Business Administration, Jhongli City, Taiwan)

Abstract

This research studies firms' sustainable development in term of economic, environmental and social dimensions and their financial performance, which includes a broader coverage of stakeholder engagement of both sustainability and profitability in a structural equation model (SEM). The secondary data of 311 firms' sustainability scores are analyzed and our observations reveal that (1) the better sustainability performers may have a tendency of positive influence on firm profitability in the same and later periods, (2) a positive reciprocal causality may exist between sustainability and profitability among the better sustainability group, (3) profitability affects corporate sustainability positively in both higher and lower sustainability groups and (4) sustainability influences firm profitability negatively in the lower sustainability group. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong-shang Chang & Li-chin Regina Kuo, 2008. "The effects of sustainable development on firms' financial performance - an empirical approach," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(6), pages 365-380.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:16:y:2008:i:6:p:365-380
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.351
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    1. Lin Wu & Nachiappan Subramanian & Angappa Gunasekaran & Muhammad Dan‐Asabe Abdulrahman & Kulwant Singh Pawar & Des Doran, 2018. "A two‐dimensional, two‐level framework for achieving corporate sustainable development: Assessing the return on sustainability initiatives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1117-1130, December.
    2. Marcello Risitano & Rosaria Romano & Vincenzo Rusciano & Gennaro Civero & Debora Scarpato, 2022. "The impact of sustainability on marketing strategy and business performance: The case of Italian fisheries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1538-1551, May.
    3. Sanoran, Kanyarat (Lek), 2023. "Corporate sustainability and sustainable growth: The role of industry sensitivity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    4. Serhiy Zabolotnyy, 2024. "Investigating the Nexus Between Energy Transition Reporting Practices and Corporate Efficiency in the European Agri-Food Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Børge Obel & Pernille Kallehave, 2022. "Designing a sustainable organization: the four I’s framework," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(2), pages 65-76, June.
    6. Satu Pätäri & Ari Jantunen & Kalevi Kyläheiko & Jaana Sandström, 2012. "Does Sustainable Development Foster Value Creation? Empirical Evidence from the Global Energy Industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(6), pages 317-326, November.
    7. Soytas, Mehmet Ali & Denizel, Meltem & Durak Usar, Damla, 2019. "Addressing endogeneity in the causal relationship between sustainability and financial performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 56-71.
    8. Malesios, Chrisovalantis & De, Debashree & Moursellas, Andreas & Dey, Prasanta & Evangelinos, Konstantinos, 2019. "Review of Statistical Modeling Approaches for Sustainability Analysis of Small and Medium sized Enterprises," MPRA Paper 93028, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Imran Abbas Jadoon & Akhter Ali & Usman Ayub & Muhammad Tahir & Raheel Mumtaz, 2021. "The impact of sustainability reporting quality on the value relevance of corporate sustainability performance," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 155-175, January.
    10. Sánchez-Infante Hernández, Juan Pablo & Yañez-Araque, Benito & Moreno-García, Juan, 2020. "Moderating effect of firm size on the influence of corporate social responsibility in the economic performance of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Malesios, Chrisovalantis & De, Debashree & Moursellas, Andreas & Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Evangelinos, Konstantinos, 2021. "Sustainability performance analysis of small and medium sized enterprises: Criteria, methods and framework," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Manuel Alejandro Ibarra Cisneros, 2017. "Analysis of the moderating effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the influence of social responsibility on the performance of Mexican family companies," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1408209-140, January.
    13. Nuttaneeya Torugsa & Wayne O’Donohue & Rob Hecker, 2013. "Proactive CSR: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of its Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions on the Association between Capabilities and Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 383-402, June.
    14. Dezhi Chen & Ningning You & Feng Lv, 2019. "Study on Sharing Characteristics and Sustainable Development Performance: Mediating Role of the Ecosystem Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-20, December.

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