The Impact of ESG Practices on Corporate Financial Performance: Evidence from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index

Abstract

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices have increasingly become an important framework for evaluating firms’ sustainability performance. At the same time, financial performance continues to serve as a fundamental indicator of firms’ economic sustainability and investor confidence. In this context, this study examines the impact of ESG performance on firms’ financial performance by analyzing both the overall ESG score and its sub-dimensions—environmental (ENV), social (SOC), and governance (GOV). Financial performance is measured using accounting-based indicators, namely Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE), as well as the market-based performance indicator Tobin’s Q. The empirical analysis is based on an annual panel dataset consisting of 174 firms listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) over the period 2015–2023. To investigate the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance, a fixed effects panel data model controlling for firm-specific and time-specific effects is employed. The findings indicate that the overall ESG score does not exhibit a statistically significant effect on financial performance indicators. Similarly, the environmental (ENV) and social (SOC) dimensions are not found to have statistically significant effects on ROA, ROE, and Tobin’s Q. In contrast, the governance (GOV) dimension is found to have a statistically significant effect only on Return on Assets (ROA).

Keywords

• ESG Score
• Financial Performance
• Fixed Effect Panel Data Model
• Dow Jones Sustainability Index
• Businesses

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee approval is not required for this research.

İşletmelerde ESG Uygulamalarının Finansal Performansa Etkisi: Dow Jones Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Çevresel, sosyal ve yönetişim (Environmental, Social and Governance- ESG) uygulamaları, işletmelerin sürdürülebilirlik performansının değerlendirilmesinde giderek daha önemli bir rol üstlenmektedir. Bununla birlikte finansal performans, işletmelerin ekonomik sürdürülebilirliği ve yatırımcı güveni açısından temel bir gösterge olmayı sürdürmektedir. Bu doğrultuda bu çalışmada ESG uygulamalarının firmaların finansal performansı üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiş; ESG’nin toplam skorunun yanı sıra çevresel (ENV), sosyal (SOC) ve yönetişim (GOV) boyutlarının firma kârlılığı ve firma değeri üzerindeki etkileri ayrı ayrı değerlendirilmiştir. Finansal performans göstergeleri olarak aktif kârlılık oranı (ROA), özsermaye kârlılık oranı (ROE) ve piyasa temelli performans ölçütü olan Tobin’s Q oranı kullanılmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında Dow Jones Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi’nde (DJSI) yer alan firmalara ait 2015–2023 dönemini kapsayan ve 174 firmadan oluşan panel veri seti kullanılmış, değişkenler arasındaki ilişkileri analiz etmek amacıyla firma ve yıl etkilerini kontrol eden sabit etkiler panel veri modeli uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular, ESG genel skorunun finansal performans göstergeleri üzerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir etki oluşturmadığını ortaya koyarken, çevresel (ENV) ve sosyal (SOC) göstergelerin de söz konusu performans ölçütleri üzerindeki etkilerinin anlamlı olmadığını göstermektedir. Buna karşılık yönetişim uygulamasını temsil eden GOV değişkeninin yalnızca aktif kârlılık (ROA) üzerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir etki gösterdiği belirlenmiştir.

Keywords

• ESG skoru
• Finansal PErformans
• Sabit Etkiler Panel Veri Modeli
• Dow Jones Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi
• İşletmeler

Ethical Statement

Bu araştırma için etik kurul izni gerekmemektedir.

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