Are Sustainable Firms More Profitable? Evidence From Egypt

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between adopting sustainability practices by Egyptian companies and their level of profitability. Three hypotheses were tested, the first concerned whether sustainable firms achieve higher levels of market value of equity than non-sustainable firms, the second involved whether sustainable firms have higher levels of return on equity compared to non-sustainable ones, and the last was about the amount of cash dividends paid by sustainable firms to their stockholders as opposed to non-sustainable ones. The population of 221 Egyptian companies listed in the Egyptian stock market in the year 2015 was used to test these hypotheses. The results demonstrate that sustainability practices are associated with higher level of both market value of equity and return on equity. Furthermore, cash dividends paid to stockholders are proven to be higher for sustainable firms.