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The article aims to empirically test the hypothesis on the impact of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices and employees’ personal environmental concerns on the performance of Russian companies. The methodological basis is the theory of corporate social and environmental responsibility embodied in the ESG concept. Exploratory factor analysis and linear regression are used to assess individual factors of corporate responsibility and personal environmental concerns on the ability of companies to perform better, i.e. to achieve their long-term goals. The empirical basis is the survey data of 339 employees of Russian companies. The research results show that strategic aspects of environmental responsibility and corporate governance are strongly connected within a single theoretical framework, while social responsibility of companies and environmental concern can be identified as a separate area of managerial efforts. Originality of the chosen approach is related to the proposed structured questionnaire that reveals various aspects of personal environmental concern and contributes to ESG practices assessment. The conducted regression analysis has demonstrated a positive impact of ESG strategies on the performance of the Russian companies in question, showing that social responsibility plays a decisive role in the ESG formula. Environmental concerns of employees do not have a significant effect on their personal assessment of organizational performance. The authors propose that managers should implement the most relevant ESG practices discussed in this article to sustain high levels of organizational performance.

Green investments and principles of circular development have become one of the prominent dimensions of regional development policies. The purpose of this article is to study the impact of green investments on circular economy indicators and contribution of these indicators to economic growth at the regional level. The study examines two key indicators of the circular economy: the share of captured and neutralized emissions into the atmosphere and the share of recycled water in the regional manufacturing systems. To test the proposed hypotheses, methods of regression analysis are used. Gross regional product is used as a predictor of value creation. The empirical base is Rosstat data for the period from 2015 to 2019. The results show that the circular economy indicators do not have a visible impact on economic growth at the regional level, but green investments increase the volume of resources used in circular manufacturing systems. It is probable that in Russian industrial economy, implementation of the circular economy principles is associated only with an increase in costs, which do not provide linear returns at the macroeconomic level.

Across-the-world and domestic practices accumulate certain expertise in assessing various components of Corporate Social Responsibility. This is a reflection of established international viewpoint, that strategic HRM is impossible without investments in human capital. However certain gaps in research of the issue have predetermined the choice of goals and tasks for the current research. In particular, the unified model of the set of measures has not yet been developed. The paper concerns the issues of investments in human capital, presents social and economic criteria for evaluation of such investments. Ways to analyze composition of stakeholders are shown. Advantages of certain standardized international reporting procedures (АА 1000, GRI, SA 8000) are revealed. Thorough attention is given to evaluation of “pros’ and “contras” concerning investing in the human capital of a company. Potential risks for the company are outlined.

Waves of recent global economic crises at the beginning of the 2000s gave a rise to an increased attention to external effects, or spillovers, of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices of companies. The paper aims to study the impact of ESG practices on regional economic and social development from the viewpoint of external stakeholders, considering the ability of local companies to retain key human capital. The theoretical framework of the research is corporate governance theory and the ESG concept. Correlation, factor, regression and path analyses are used in combination to determine the impact of individual ESG practices on regional development and place attachment. The empirical evidence comes from the 2023 survey of 359 respondents from two industrialized regions of Russia. The originality of the study is based on (1) a structured questionnaire developed by the authors to examine external stakeholders’ opinions on ESG problems in the regions, and (2) the sociological concept of place attachment viewed as the most important indicator of human capital retention. Our findings show that practices of social responsibility and labour market growth primarily influence the perception of regional economic development. In turn, there is no significant relationship between ESG practices and people’s attachment to the region of residence. Practical conclusions show that external stakeholders are mainly concerned about ESG labour market spillovers: creation of stable jobs, provision of career prospects and technological advantages in the region.