Understanding the behavior of ESG in both OPEC and non‐OPEC countries? The implications for sustainable development reaching

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance has increasingly become the most pressing concern for governments, social organizations, companies, and other stakeholders. Understanding macro ESG behavior can assist governments in achieving their sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this paper, we investigate whether the macro ESG index of OPEC and non‐OPEC oil‐producing countries over the period 1990–2020 exhibits mean‐reversion behavior and whether the external shocks are transient or permanent. By conducting a series of advanced panel stationarity tests, we find that the macro ESG indices of the sample countries do not exhibit mean‐reversion and that an external shock has a permanent effect. We also identifies the yearly structural breaks that occur in the sample countries and attempts to explain why. Our research suggests that governments should use policy interventions to counteract external shocks to macro ESG behavior so as to achieve sustainable development and long‐term performance stability.