{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]],"date-time":"2026-03-30T00:56:03Z","timestamp":1774832163508,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,29]],"date-time":"2023-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680048000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT, I.P., the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDB\/04521\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/04521\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JRFM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study analyses the association between firms\u2019 sustainability and economic performance in Europe, considering the channels of margin and turnover. The sample is composed of firms listed in the STOXX Europe 600 Index from 2012 to 2020. The sustainability performance is captured by the combined and individual ESG scores from Refinitiv, and dynamically tested with proxies of economic performance, including economic value added, return on firms\u2019 assets and its components, margin and turnover. The methodological approach comprises different panel data specifications and tackles the potentially unobserved, time-invariant heterogeneity, endogeneity concerns, and reverse causality biases. Our findings point to a strong positive association between firms\u2019 sustainability and economic performance in Europe, although the individual ESG forces are not at play with the same intensity. The environmental pillar is the one that is systematically associated with better economic performance across all estimations. The influence of sustainability performance on economic performance is also channeled by both profit margin and turnover. We find that a 1% improvement in the ESG score yields an increase in the economic value added of 0.08%, EVA over revenues. In general, our findings point to a shift from the conventional business model perspective to the incorporation of a core sustainability proposition and agenda that brings advantages and drives economic performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jrfm16040215","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,30]],"date-time":"2023-03-30T01:05:26Z","timestamp":1680138326000},"page":"215","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Can Corporate Sustainability Drive Economic Value Added? Evidence from Larger European Firms"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1031-0032","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tiago","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ADVANCE\/CSG, ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua do Quelhas, 6, 1200-781 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Diogo","family":"Louro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua do Quelhas 6, 1200-781 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4177-5673","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Victor","family":"Barros","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ADVANCE\/CSG, ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua do Quelhas, 6, 1200-781 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.1016\/S0361-3682(03)00032-1","article-title":"The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: A simultaneous equations approach","volume":"29","author":"Christensen","year":"2004","journal-title":"Accounting, Organizations and Society"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"18","article-title":"A meta-analytical investigation of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance","volume":"57","author":"Allouche","year":"2005","journal-title":"Revue de Gestion des Ressources Humaines"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alsayegh, Maha Faisal, Rahman, Rashidah Abdul, and Homayoun, Saeid (2020). 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