Aug 2026· Business Strategy & Development· 0 citations· 39 references
Abstract
This study investigates how sustainability in the digital era shapes corporate value through the interplay between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and technological transformation in African business environments. In emerging economies, where institutional weaknesses, regulatory inconsistencies, and rising stakeholder scrutiny create complex operational conditions, the strategic relevance of ESG practices remains underexplored. Drawing on Stakeholder Theory and the Resource‐Based View, this research conceptualizes ESG engagement as a strategic capability that contributes to long‐term value creation, while digital transformation is viewed as an enabling mechanism that strengthens firms' ability to convert sustainability efforts into financial outcomes. Using a panel of 882 firm‐year observations from publicly listed manufacturing firms across Africa between 2010 and 2023, the study employs the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator to address potential endogeneity, dynamic panel bias, and unobserved heterogeneity. Robustness checks, including alternative performance measures, winsorization, and endogeneity diagnostics, reinforce the reliability of the results. The findings show that environmental and social performance significantly enhance corporate value, whereas governance performance exhibits a more nuanced nonlinear relationship. Digital transformation positively moderates the ESG and corporate value link, indicating that technology enables firms to better leverage sustainability initiatives for financial gains. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that ownership structures and industry classifications shape the strength of these relationships. The study highlights the strategic importance of aligning ESG practices with digital transformation efforts to drive sustainable corporate value in Africa's evolving business landscape, offering implications for managers, policymakers, and investors committed to advancing sustainability‐driven strategy.
Asian firms increasingly face a dual strategic requirement: they must accelerate digital transformation while meeting rising environmental, social and governance (ESG) expectations. This paper develops the ESG-digital nexus as a strategic management framework explaining how digital capabilities can strengthen ESG performance and how ESG objectives can discipline digital investment toward long-term value creation. Using an integrative conceptual synthesis informed by the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities theory and selected Asian sustainability contexts, the paper reframes digital transformation and ESG integration as mutually reinforcing organisational capabilities rather than separate compliance or technology agendas. The framework identifies three mechanisms: digitally enabled ESG measurement, behavioural embedding through digital institutional behavioural design and stakeholder-facing transparency. The illustrative evidence and maturity matrix suggest that firms with high digital and ESG maturity are better positioned to convert sustainability commitments into operational routines, financial resilience and reputational advantage. The paper contributes a practical quadrant model for diagnosing organisational maturity and for guiding staged managerial action in Asian firms operating under tightening sustainability reporting regimes.
K. Tan· International Journal of Sci...· 0 citations
This study examines the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and firm value in the global energy sector, with a focus on the moderating effects of national culture and green innovation. It analyzes 1960 firm‐year observations from publicly traded energy companies in 35 countries from 2014 to 2023. Results show that ESG performance is positively associated with accounting‐based performance, while its impact on market valuation is limited. National culture plays a significant role: individualism enhances the financial benefits of ESG, whereas power distance and uncertainty avoidance reduce them. Green innovation improves operational performance but does not strengthen the ESG–firm value link, likely because of the short‐term costs of implementation and adjustment. The findings underscore the critical role of institutional context and organizational capabilities in driving value through sustainability initiatives in the energy sector. These results hold consistently across ESG measures, subsample analyses, and endogeneity tests.
Atar Derj, Adil Bami, Slimane Ed-dafali et al.· Corporate Social Responsibil...· 0 citations
This study examines whether environmental innovation strengthens resource use efficiency in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) firms and identifies the organisational conditions under which this relationship produces verifiable operational outcomes. Drawing on the natural resource‐based view, human capital theory and agency theory, this study develops a mediated–moderated framework in which workforce capabilities mediate the innovation‐to‐efficiency relationship while sustainability‐linked executive incentives and audit committee expertise act as governance‐level boundary conditions. Using an unbalanced panel of 1398 firm‐year observations from 281 listed GCC corporations over 2010 to 2024, retrieved from LSEG Datastream and the World Bank, this study employs a two‐step System‐GMM estimator to address endogeneity from lagged dependent variables and reverse causality, with instrument validity confirmed via Arellano–Bond AR(2) and Hansen tests. Environmental innovation enhances resource use efficiency both directly and indirectly through workforce capabilities. Sustainability‐linked incentives weaken the innovation‐to‐workforce pathway, and audit committee expertise dampens workforce contributions to efficiency, underscoring the need for governance structures that enable operational transformation.
Suzan Dsouza, Ariz Naqvi, Mujtaba M. Momin· Business Strategy and the En...· 0 citations
This study examines whether carbon strategy enhances corporate sustainability performance and whether this relationship depends on green innovation and governance conditions. Specifically, it investigates the mediating role of green innovation and the moderating roles of institutional ownership and gender‐inclusive governance in shaping firms' ESG performance. Using panel data from publicly listed firms in the ASEAN‐5 over the 2017–2024 period, the study employs the two‐step System GMM estimator to address endogeneity and unobserved firm heterogeneity. The results indicate that carbon strategy is positively associated with corporate sustainability performance. Green innovation serves as an important mediating mechanism, suggesting that environmental commitments become more effective when supported by cleaner technologies, sustainable products, and operational improvements. Institutional ownership is also positively associated with ESG performance, indicating that active monitoring and a long‐term investment orientation strengthen firms' sustainability commitments. Furthermore, gender‐inclusive governance positively moderates the relationship between carbon strategy and corporate sustainability performance, implying that more diverse leadership structures enhance the effectiveness of environmental strategies. Overall, these findings suggest that firms improve sustainability performance by integrating carbon‐oriented strategies with innovation capabilities and supportive governance structures. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that environmental strategy, ownership structure, and board gender diversity jointly shape corporate sustainability performance in the ASEAN‐5 context.
Suham Cahyono· Corporate Social Responsibil...· 0 citations
This study investigates the effect of digital transformation on firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and examines how state ownership moderates this relationship. It aims to clarify whether digital capabilities enhance sustainability outcomes across different ownership structures in an emerging market context.
The analysis draws on a panel dataset of industrial manufacturing firms listed in Vietnam from 2018 to 2024. Digital transformation is measured using a text-based index derived from annual reports, constructed through keyword frequency analysis. ESG performance is proxied by ESG disclosure, quantified using the term frequency-inverse document frequency method. Panel regression models with interaction terms assess the moderating effect of state ownership, while subgroup analyses examine heterogeneity across ownership forms.
Digital transformation has a significant positive influence on ESG performance. However, this effect appears to be less pronounced for state-owned enterprises, suggesting that institutional and governance characteristics may attenuate firms’ ability to translate digital investments into sustainability outcomes.
The findings offer insights for policymakers and managers seeking to align digital strategies with sustainability objectives. Enhancing ESG reporting regulations, fostering digital–ESG integration and improving governance mechanisms in state-owned firms may amplify the sustainability benefits of digital transformation.
This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the digital transformation–ESG nexus in a transition economy where state influence remains prominent. Methodologically, it introduces a scalable text-mining approach to measuring firm-level digitalization and ESG engagement using corporate disclosures.
Mai-Phuong Nguyen, Minh Thi Ngoc Trieu· Asian Review of Accounting· 0 citations
This paper investigates the impact of ESG performance and ESG washing on firm value within the context of rapidly evolving digital financial systems. Although ESG disclosure has become central to corporate decision‐making, concerns regarding ESG washing have raised doubts about the credibility of reported sustainability practices and their true valuation effects. At the same time, the rise of FinTech development may reshape how markets process and price ESG‐related information, yet this interaction remains underexplored in the literature. Using panel data from global ESG Leaders Index firms between 2018 and 2023, fixed‐effects regression models and industry‐sensitivity robustness checks capture the interplay between ESG, ESG controversies, FinTech development, and firm value. Results show that higher ESG performance and reduced exposure to controversies significantly enhance firm value. Furthermore, country‐level FinTech development strengthens the positive valuation effect of credible ESG performance, indicating that digitally advanced financial ecosystems enhance investors' ability to distinguish between firms with substantive sustainability practices and those engaging in ESG washing. Industry‐sensitive sectors also exhibit stronger ESG–value linkages. For managers, the findings highlight the importance of verifiable ESG practices, particularly in sensitive industries. For policymakers and investors, the study underscores the relevance of FinTech maturity and industry context when assessing ESG disclosure credibility. This study contributes to the literature by examining the ESG washing–value relationship within the broader framework of country‐level FinTech development.
Amira Tarek Ibrahim Metwally, Sandra Ibrahim Mikhael Ibrahim· Corporate Social Responsibil...· 0 citations