Variables, acronyms, measurement
| Variable | Parameters | Symbol | Definition | Source | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent | |||||
| Firm Performance | ROAit | The ratio of net income to total assets of firm i in year t | CSMAR | Chen et al. (2023a, b), Elamer and Boulhaga (2024), Khan (2022) | |
| ROEit | Natural logarithm of (Revenue divided by total carbon emissions) of firm i in year t | CSMAR | Prashar (2023), Truong (2024), Zimon et al. (2022) | ||
| TobinsQit | The ratio of firm market value to the asset’s replacement value of firm i in year t | CSMAR | Khan (2022), Truong (2024), Zimon et al. (2022) | ||
| Independent | |||||
| ESG score | ESGit | The ESG average score assigned to each firm is based on the Environmental, Social, and Governance pillars. Range from 0–100 score | CNRDS | Bae et al. (2021), Dossa (2025), Shakil (2021) | |
| Environmental score | Envit | It represents the weighted average of all key issues that fall under the environment pillar performance | CNRDS | Bae et al. (2021), Dossa (2025), Shakil (2021) | |
| Social score | Socit | It represents the weighted average of all key issues that fall under the social pillar performance | CNRDS | Bae et al. (2021), Dossa (2025), Shakil (2021) | |
| Governance score | Govit | It represents the weighted average of all key issues that fall under the governance pillar performance | CNRDS | Bae et al. (2021), Dossa (2025), Shakil (2021) | |
| Controls | |||||
| Size | Sizeit | Natural logarithm of total asset | CSMAR | Chen et al. (2023a, b), Ding and Lee (2024), Veeravel et al. (2024) | |
| Leverage | Levit | The ratio of total liabilities to total assets | CSMAR | Casciello et al. (2024), Díaz et al. (2021) | |
| Cash asset ratio | CARit | Cash and cash equivalent/Total asset | CSMAR | Agnese et al. (2024), Azmi et al. (2021), Zhang et al. (2024) | |
| Firms’ growth | GRWit | The sales growth of the firm is calculated as (Salest – Salest-1)/Salest-1 | CSMAR | Díaz et al. (2021), Ding and Lee (2024), Zhang et al. (2024) | |
| Firm Age | Ageit | Natural logarithm of years since firms have been established | CSMAR | Díaz et al. (2021), Ding and Lee (2024), Zhang et al. (2024) | |
| Board size | Bsizeit | Natural logarithm of total number of board members in firm i in year t | CSMAR | Veeravel et al. (2024), Zhang et al. (2024) | |
| Independent Directors (board independence) | B_indpit | The proportion of independent directors is measured by the number of independent directors divided by the total number of directors on the board | CSMAR | Chen et al. (2023a, b), Khan (2022), Lu and Cheng (2023) | |
| Liquidity ratio | Liqit | Current assets/Current liabilities in firm i in year t | CSMAR | Gregory (2022), Qu and Zhang (2023) | |
| Equity concentration | Top1it | The shareholding ratio of the largest shareholder measures the concentration of equity | CSMAR | Yuan et al. (2022), Q. Zhang et al. (2023) | |
| CEO Duality | Dualityit | A dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the CEO also serves as the Chairman and 0 if they are separate positions | CSMAR | Khan (2022), Zhang et al. (2024), Zhang et al. (2024) | |
| Board gender | Bgenderit | The proportion of women on the board of directors is measured by the number of women on the board divided by the total number of directors | CSMAR | Khan (2022), Zhang et al. (2024), Zhang et al. (2024) | |
| Variable | Parameters | Symbol | Definition | Source | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firm Performance | ROAit | The ratio of net income to total assets of firm i in year t | CSMAR | ||
| ROEit | Natural logarithm of (Revenue divided by total carbon emissions) of firm i in year t | CSMAR | |||
| TobinsQit | The ratio of firm market value to the asset’s replacement value of firm i in year t | CSMAR | |||
| ESG score | ESGit | The ESG average score assigned to each firm is based on the Environmental, Social, and Governance pillars. Range from 0–100 score | CNRDS | ||
| Environmental score | Envit | It represents the weighted average of all key issues that fall under the environment pillar performance | CNRDS | ||
| Social score | Socit | It represents the weighted average of all key issues that fall under the social pillar performance | CNRDS | ||
| Governance score | Govit | It represents the weighted average of all key issues that fall under the governance pillar performance | CNRDS | ||
| Size | Sizeit | Natural logarithm of total asset | CSMAR | ||
| Leverage | Levit | The ratio of total liabilities to total assets | CSMAR | ||
| Cash asset ratio | CARit | Cash and cash equivalent/Total asset | CSMAR | ||
| Firms’ growth | GRWit | The sales growth of the firm is calculated as (Salest – Salest-1)/Salest-1 | CSMAR | ||
| Firm Age | Ageit | Natural logarithm of years since firms have been established | CSMAR | ||
| Board size | Bsizeit | Natural logarithm of total number of board members in firm i in year t | CSMAR | ||
| Independent Directors (board independence) | B_indpit | The proportion of independent directors is measured by the number of independent directors divided by the total number of directors on the board | CSMAR | ||
| Liquidity ratio | Liqit | Current assets/Current liabilities in firm i in year t | CSMAR | ||
| Equity concentration | Top1it | The shareholding ratio of the largest shareholder measures the concentration of equity | CSMAR | ||
| CEO Duality | Dualityit | A dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the CEO also serves as the Chairman and 0 if they are separate positions | CSMAR | ||
| Board gender | Bgenderit | The proportion of women on the board of directors is measured by the number of women on the board divided by the total number of directors | CSMAR | ||
Note(s): This table presents the definitions and data sources of the variables used in the analysis
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