Sustainability disclosure and its impact on firm's value for Energy and Healthcare industry

Abstract

Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between sustainability disclosure measured through the combined and individual environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and the value of European companies from energy and health care industries. The reasons for this research are the increased awareness of sustainability disclosure, the inclusion of nonfinancial information in corporate reporting and possible added value to the company, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on the global economy. The sample consists of 305 observations for 61 European companies from different categories in the energy industry and 225 observations for 45 European companies in the health care industry. To apply the research model to the samples of companies set as panel data, two linear regressions were designed, each using a different dependent variable to increase the reliability of the outputs. The results indicate a negative and significant correlation between the environmental factor and firms’ value for the energy sector and no influence of the sustainability disclosure on the value of companies in the health care industry. The research contributes to the literature by addressing the impact of sustainability disclosure on the value of the European companies from sensitive industries, using both the combined and individual ESG scores to measure sustainability disclosure. Furthermore, the study encourages other academic research on this subject.