Corporate sustainability

About: Corporate sustainability is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3517 publications have been published within this topic receiving 94075 citations.

Sustainability innovation cube — a framework to evaluate sustainability-oriented innovations

Abstract: Corporations increasingly subscribe to the principles of corporate sustainability, which is generally described as the integration of economic, environmental and social dimensions. Concerning innovation management, this emphasises the role of sustainability-oriented innovations (SOI). SOI is considered a tool both to address sustainability issues and to tap into new customer segments and markets. Yet SOI are very risky: both their market success and non-economic sustainability are uncertain. This paper presents a generic model termed the "Sustainability Innovation Cube" (SIC) for structuring innovations' sustainability effects in order to better inform corporate decision-makers about how to minimize the directional risk of SOI. The model includes the three dimensions: target, life cycle and innovation type. A qualitative expert study reveals the opportunities and challenges related to the developed model. Finally, practical implications are derived, limitations are discussed and a brief outlook is given.

Similar But Not the Same: Differentiating Corporate Sustainability from Corporate Responsibility

Abstract: Corporate responsibility and sustainability tackle the relationship between business and society. However, the two fields of study have converged to become deeply entangled and blurred so that rese...

The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Abstract: A key aspect of the governance process inside organizations and markets is the measurement and disclosure of important metrics and information. In this chapter, we examine the effect of sustainability disclosure regulations on firms’ disclosure practices and valuations. Specifically, we explore the implications of regulations mandating the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information in China, Denmark, Malaysia, and South Africa using differences-in-differences estimation with propensity score matched samples. We find that relative to propensity score matched control firms, treated firms significantly increased disclosure following the regulations. We also find increased likelihood by treated firms of voluntarily receiving assurance to enhance disclosure credibility and increased likelihood of voluntarily adopting reporting guidelines that enhance disclosure comparability. These results suggest that even in the absence of a regulation that mandates the adoption of assurance or specific guidelines, firms seek the qualitative properties of comparability and credibility. Instrumental variables analysis suggests that increases in sustainability disclosure driven by the regulation are associated with increases in firm valuations, as reflected in Tobin’s Q. Collectively, the evidence suggest that current efforts to increase transparency around organizations’ impact on society are effective at improving disclosure quantity and quality as well as corporate value.

Is Corporate Sustainability a Value-Increasing Strategy for Business?

Abstract: A new movement reconciling corporate sustainability and investment is gaining world-wide attention. Whether corporate sustainability has an impact on market value is examined using large US non-financial firms from 1999 to 2002 in this paper. Taking Tobin’s q as the proxy for firm value, a significantly positive relation between corporate sustainability and its market value is found. We also find a strong interaction effect between corporate sustainability and sales growth on firm value. Moreover, there is evidence to support that being sustainable causes a firm to increase its value. This indicates that companies with remarkable sustainable development strategies are more likely to be rewarded by investors with a higher valuation in the financial markets.