ESG rating and financial performance in the Nordic market

Abstract

Stakeholders’ interest in firms have increased in recent years and ESG rating have become more important. Previous literature has had difficulties concluding on the effect of ESG rating on financial performance. The ESG performance of firms in the Nordic countries are relatively high. This thesis will investigate the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance in the Nordics. Also, extending our investigation by deconstructing the ESG score. The updated ESG rating from Thomson Reuters is a measure for the independent variable and ROA is a measure for financial performance. Based on correlation analysis and results from a fixed effect regression we can conclude that the relationship is significant and negative for firms in the Nordics. Furthermore, the relationship is a onedirectional causal relationship, where ESG rating affect financial performance in the subsequent period negatively.