Version 1
: Received: 26 July 2024 / Approved: 29 July 2024 / Online: 29 July 2024 (09:54:37 CEST)
How to cite:
Vortelinos, D.; Passas, I.; Floros, C.; Garefalakis, A. The Relations between COVID-19, Country Governance, and CSR: An International Comparative Study. Preprints2024, 2024072262. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.2262.v1
Vortelinos, D.; Passas, I.; Floros, C.; Garefalakis, A. The Relations between COVID-19, Country Governance, and CSR: An International Comparative Study. Preprints 2024, 2024072262. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.2262.v1
Vortelinos, D.; Passas, I.; Floros, C.; Garefalakis, A. The Relations between COVID-19, Country Governance, and CSR: An International Comparative Study. Preprints2024, 2024072262. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.2262.v1
APA Style
Vortelinos, D., Passas, I., Floros, C., & Garefalakis, A. (2024). The Relations between COVID-19, Country Governance, and CSR: An International Comparative Study. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.2262.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Vortelinos, D., Christos Floros and Alexandros Garefalakis. 2024 "The Relations between COVID-19, Country Governance, and CSR: An International Comparative Study" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.2262.v1
Abstract
This paper assesses the association of ESG scores with stock returns and highlights the moderating role of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country's governance. The study uses panel data regressions to analyze how ESG performance influences plain, absolute, and risk-adjusted returns in a sample of European and selected non-European countries. These suggest that higher overall ESG scores are related positively to financial performance, and this relation is enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the two dimensions of ESG that matter most are environmental and governance. Country-level governance is important because firms in well-governed countries amplify the benefits of high ESG scores. The opposite is true for the higher Controversies scores, whose bad financial outcome is magnified during the pandemic. These results present an argument for the resilience of firm financial performance, dependent on strong ESG practices and governance frameworks. This holds great interest for investors and policymakers in associating good ESG considerations with the effective management of financial risks, leading to sustainable returns during periods of widespread economic uncertainty.
Keywords
ESG; CSR; Covid-19; country governance; Europe; non-Europe; controversies
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Finance
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
