Does ESG performance have an impact on financial performance? Evidence from Germany

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to concentrate on environmental, social and governance performance (ESGP) in total and divided in each component and evaluate their impact on financial performance (FINP). Design/methodology/approach The study covers a sample selection of companies listed on the German Prime Standard (DAX30, TecDAX, MDAX) for the business years 2010-2014 (412 firm-year observations). A correlation and regression analysis was carried out to evaluate possible links between ESGP as determined by the Asset4 database of Thomson Reuters and accounting and market-based measures of FINP (Return on Assets [ROA] and Tobin’s Q). Findings ESGP has a positive impact on ROA but no impact on Tobin’s Q.…