Table A1

Definition of variables

VariablesDefinitionsData source
Dependent variable
log(ΔSGA)log of quotient of current and previous year Selling General and Administrative expenses for company i in year tWorldscope
Independent variables
log(ΔRevenue)log of quotient of current and previous year revenue for company i in year tWorldscope
EU_Directiveindicator variable taking value 1 for company-year observations exposed to the EU Directive 
Sustainability_performancelog of annual changes in ESG score for company i in year tRefinitiv
Civil_lawindicator variable taking value 1 if a company i resides in France, Sweden, Finland or Norwaycf. Spamann (2010) 
Common_lawindicator variable taking value 1 if a company i originates from UKcf. Spamann (2010) 
Control variables
Economic_growthnational-level percentage growth in nominal GDP in year tWorld Bank
Asset_turnoverlog of quotient of number of employees and revenue for company i in year tWorldscope
ROAreturn on Assets for company i in year tWorldscope
Tobins_qsum of market value of equity and book value of liabilities divided by total book value of assets for company i in year tWorldscope
Leveragetotal assets of a company divided by its total equity for company i in year tWorldscope
Board_sizelog of total number of board directors for company i in year tWorldscope
Source(s): Created by authors

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