The purpose of this research study is to examine and explain whether there is a positive or negative linear relationship between sustainability reporting, inadequate management of economic, social, and governance (ESG) factors, and corporate performance and sustainable growth. The financial and market performances of companies are both analyzed in this study. Sustainable growth at the company level is introduced as a dimension that depends on sustainability reporting and the management of ESG factors. In order to achieve the main objective of the paper, the methodology here focuses on the construction of multifactorial linear regressions, in which the dependent variables are measurements of financial and market performance and assess corporate sustainable growth. The independent variables of these regressions are the sustainability metrics and the control variables included in the models. Most of the existing literature focuses on the causality between sustainability performance and financial performance. While most impact studies on financial performance are restricted to sustainability performance, this study refers to the degree of risk associated with the inadequate management of economic, social, and governance factors. This work examines the effects of ESG risk management, not only on performance, but also on corporate sustainable growth. It is one of the few studies that addresses the problem of the involvement of companies in controversial events and the way in which such events impact the sustainability and sustainable growth of the company.

The banking sector plays an important role in the development of any economy. The performance of the loans in bank portfolios is a critical issue for the banking sector. The increased number of nonperforming loans (NPLs) after the financial crisis of 2008 has questioned the robustness of many banks and the stability of the entire sector. Our study aims to present the most important aspects related to NPLs and to investigate some macroeconomic determinant factors affecting the rate of NPLs in Romania. Based on a set of data for the period 2009–2019, the analysis of NPLs was made using linear regression. The results showed that all selected independent variables (exchange rates of the most used currencies (EUR, USD and CHF), unemployment rate, and inflation rate) have a significant impact on the dependent variable NPL. The study reveals strong correlations between NPLs and the macroeconomic factors studied and that the Romanian economy is clearly connected to the quality of the loan portfolios. Additionally, an econometric analysis of the empirical causes of NPLs shows that the RON–CHF exchange rate has been the main factor in increasing the NPL ratio in the last 5 years in Romania.

Global economic growth is noted to have been severely affected by the Great Recession in 2009, reaching its lowest level since the series began in 2019. This low was exceeded in 2020, in the sense that the level of economic growth in Q1 and Q2 2020 is well below 2009 due to countries’ efforts to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases of coronavirus that have occurred since February–March 2020 have started to produce significant effects on economic growth, and the evolution of the economic growth indicator is in decline for the countries analysed. The article is aiming to develop two models (using Empirical Regression Model) that analyse the influence of macroeconomic indicators on economic growth. Our study covers EU member countries in Central and Eastern Europe from 2001–2020 Q2. Using the same variables and coefficients for both models, six for the first model and seven for the second model with the addition of coronavirus cases, we see a change in the behaviour of independent variables. The authors consider that this variable influences the economic situation in a country because it has caused the change in the unfavourable direction of certain macroeconomic indicators with a direct influence on economic growth. By adding cases of coronavirus (Cc) the equation becomes broader and contains several variables that explain the evolution of economic growth. Each of the indicators changes its value, but it is noted that variables with negative coefficients decrease further (e.g., Cs, GvS). Our findings in this article confirm that of all the determinants analysed, CsGw, Ret, GvS, and Cc overwhelmingly influence economic growth.

This paper focuses on four main fields of interest. The first part of the study is dedicated to an analysis of the specialized literature with a view to highlighting our research area. The second part concentrates on recent trends in the evolution of bank concentration indexes. The third part consists of an analysis of the key-indicators which influence the degree of bank concentration, while the last part of our paper establishes the relation between the Herfindahl index and the key-indicators (Total assets, Number of credit institutions, Population and Gross domestic product at market price) with the help of the correlation indexes. At the end of the study we present our conclusions. We find that the overall European banking market is not very concentrated.

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