This article investigates whether firm-level financial performance is positively associated with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores in emerging markets. The vast majority of extant research in this area has been conducted in developed countries, and in light of this research gap, our study examines these issues using a multi-industry sample of firms located in 24 leading emerging markets. Using the stakeholder management and institutional theories, we develop and test our hypotheses by applying linear regression analyses on panel data from over 600 firms drawn from the Thompson Reuters Eikon database between the years 2014 and 2018. The results suggest that, after controlling for firm size and leverage, firms with higher ESG scores experience greater levels of profitability. A number of policy and managerial implications are explored based on these findings. This study adds to our further understanding of the relationship between ESG activities and firm performance in emerging markets.

中文翻译：

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新兴市场的环境、社会和治理因素：对公司业绩的影响

本文调查了企业层面的财务业绩是否与新兴市场的环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 得分呈正相关。该领域现有的绝大多数研究都是在发达国家进行的，鉴于这一研究差距，我们的研究使用位于 24 个主要新兴市场的公司的多行业样本来检验这些问题。使用利益相关者管理和制度理论，我们通过对 2014 年至 2018 年间来自汤普森路透社 Eikon 数据库的 600 多家公司的面板数据应用线性回归分析来开发和检验我们的假设。结果表明，在控制公司规模后和杠杆率，ESG 得分较高的公司的盈利水平更高。基于这些发现，我们探讨了一些政策和管理影响。本研究进一步加深了我们对 ESG 活动与新兴市场公司业绩之间关系的理解。