Assessing the Effect of Corporate ESG Management on Corporate Financial & Market Performance and Export

Abstract

The objective of this article is to discover whether a company’s ESG management consistently has a positive impact on various corporate performance, such as financial, market and export performance. An empirical analysis employing a fixed effect panel model was conducted using empirical panel data from 2011 to 2021 for 806 non-financial manufacturing and service sector companies in Korea. The main findings are the impact of corporate ESG management on corporate performance varies depending on the type of performance, E and G have a positive effect on corporate profitability, and both positive and negative effects are observed on exports. Regarding market performance, neither ESG was found to have significant effect. The diverse and disproportionate influence of ESG management on financial, market, and export performance presented in this study will provide firms with theoretical and practical implications. However, it is necessary to examine more closely whether these analysis results are the result of actual strategic choices of companies, or a phenomenon in which the level or speed of regulatory and institutional development differs by ESG sector.