Sustainability and Corporate Performance: Moderating Role of Environmental, Social, and Governance Investments in the Transportation Sector

Abstract

This study employs the two-stage dynamic data envelopment analysis model to examine sustainability and corporate performances of the 29 largest multinational enterprises in the transport manufacturing industry from 2015 to 2019. The results show that, on average, sustainability has a positive relation to corporate performance and sustainability performance is better than corporate performance for all multinational enterprises (MNEs). In addition, we also found that corporate social responsibility (CSR) acts as a moderator in the relationship between sustainability and corporate performances. Overall, the American group leads the others in sustainability performance, followed by Asia and Europe. On the other hand, Europe has the highest score in terms of corporate performance. In terms of size, the results show that it is positively related to corporate performance. In contrast, leverage has a negative relationship with corporate performance. The findings of this research can assist inefficient MNEs in identifying areas for advancement by learning from their peers and provide perspective and insights into the plans for MNEs’ strategies and decisions in the future.

What Makes Tourists Use Public Transport? Value-Belief-Norm Theory, Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors, and the Sustainable Development Goals

“…The results suggest that tourists having greater ESG factors on domestic public transport are more likely to have stronger beliefs, pursue climate change mitigation, and perceive issues of air quality. The findings expand previous research on sustainable transport (J.P. Morgan Asset Management, 2022; Kuo et al, 2022;Ozcan, 2019) and tourism (Dogru et al, 2022;Hassan & Meyer, 2022;Ionescu et al, 2019;Tong et al, 2022).…”

“…The findings expand previous research on sustainable transport (J.P. Morgan Asset Management, 2022; Kuo et al, 2022; Ozcan, 2019) and tourism (Dogru et al, 2022; Hassan & Meyer, 2022; Ionescu et al, 2019; Tong et al, 2022).…”

“…Environmental, Social, and Governance. Given that the transport sector is a major contributor to global emissions (15%), ESG factors are key elements for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) aspects of transportation (J.P. Morgan Asset Management, 2022; Kuo et al, 2022;Ozcan, 2019). Studies have documented ESG elements in terms of business leadership relevant to the SDGs (de Silva Lokuwaduge et al, 2022), ASEAN countries' SDGs (Sadiq et al, 2023), and green cities' SDGs (Teixeira Dias et al, 2023).…”

“…ESG elements are significant for transport, revealing that larger board and company size, higher percentage of independent directors, profitability, financial leverage, and tangibility, and operating in a common law country tend to increase ESG disclosure scores (J.P. Morgan Asset Management, 2022; Kuo et al, 2022; Ozcan, 2019). ESG factors are important influences on sustainability (e.g., air quality, climate change) and tourism (Dogru et al, 2022; Hassan & Meyer, 2022; Ionescu et al, 2019; Tong et al, 2022).…”

“…ESG factors are important influences on sustainability (e.g., air quality, climate change) and tourism (Dogru et al, 2022; Hassan & Meyer, 2022; Ionescu et al, 2019; Tong et al, 2022). In the travel and tourism industry, the influence of ESG elements on market value of tourism companies is positively related to investors’ beliefs about the future sustainability of the companies (Kuo et al, 2022). In active transport, walkers and bikers’ pro-social behavior highly influence commitment to improving perception of air quality and pursuing climate change alleviation (M.…”