How does the toxic and sustainable index influence on corporate performance? A comparison analysis before and after pandemic

IF 4.8 2区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Review of Economics & Finance Pub Date : 2025-04-22 DOI:10.1016/j.iref.2025.104120

Haijun Kang , Shangping Chi , Xiuzhong Wang , Zhuoran Li

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study, based on U.S. firm-level data from 2010 to 2023, employs a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to examine the financial performance of toxic and sustainable firms before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Firms are categorized as toxic—including air, water, and greenhouse gas polluters—or sustainable, based on their environmental practices. The DID approach enables us to identify the causal impact of the pandemic on firm performance by comparing the differential changes in key financial metrics—specifically, Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE)—between toxic and sustainable firms across the pre- and post-pandemic periods. Our findings reveal that firms with high greenhouse gas emissions experienced significant financial deterioration after the pandemic, attributed to increased regulatory costs, compliance burdens, and reputational damage. In contrast, sustainable firms demonstrated strong post-pandemic resilience, with notable improvements in ROA. These results suggest that environmentally responsible firms gained a strategic advantage through enhanced market perceptions and better alignment with evolving regulatory and stakeholder expectations.

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有毒和可持续指数如何影响公司绩效？大流行前后的对比分析

本研究基于2010年至2023年美国公司层面的数据，采用差异中的差异（DID）模型来研究COVID-19大流行前后有毒和可持续公司的财务绩效。根据企业的环保行为，企业被分为有毒企业（包括空气、水和温室气体污染者）和可持续企业。DID方法使我们能够通过比较大流行前后有毒公司和可持续公司在关键财务指标（特别是资产收益率（ROA）和股本收益率（ROE））方面的差异变化，确定大流行对公司业绩的因果影响。我们的研究结果表明，由于监管成本增加、合规负担和声誉受损，温室气体排放量高的公司在疫情后经历了严重的财务恶化。相比之下，可持续企业表现出强大的大流行后复原力，总资产收益率显著提高。这些结果表明，对环境负责的企业通过增强市场认知和更好地与不断变化的监管和利益相关者期望保持一致，获得了战略优势。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Review of Economics & Finance Multiple-

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

2.20%

发文量

253

期刊介绍： The International Review of Economics & Finance (IREF) is a scholarly journal devoted to the publication of high quality theoretical and empirical articles in all areas of international economics, macroeconomics and financial economics. Contributions that facilitate the communications between the real and the financial sectors of the economy are of particular interest.