Impact of ISO Certifications on Corporate Financial Performance: Evidence from Istanbul Stock Exchange-Listed Manufacturing Companies

Abstract

The literature has reached a consensus that ISO standardization enhances the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance of companies, which in turn has a positive effect on corporate financial performance (CFP). There is less understanding in terms of the effect of different certifications and underlying mechanisms between the effect of the ISO certification on the CFP. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different ISO certifications on the CFP of Turkish companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST). Based on audited financial statements of a population of 148 manufacturing companies listed during 2010–2022 and using the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique, this study shows that the number of ISO certifications has a positive impact on return on asset (ROA) and Tobin’s Q, however, no direct effect on operational efficient and R&D intensity. While there is no effect of the occupational health and safety management systems certification on ROA and Tobin’s Q, the analysis brought forward that ROA seems to be positively affected by the standards referring to environmental, energy, quality, and information security management systems certification while Tobin’s Q is positively affected by the last two certifications.