El impacto del score ESG en el desempeño financiero en compañías del sector de consumo discrecional en Latinoamérica

Abstract

This investigation evaluated whether there is any relationship between the ESG rating of companies with their market value and their financial performance. To validate this hypothesis, information from 143 Latin American companies related to the consumer discretionary sector was analyzed, in the period 2012-2021, on an annual basis. Through OLS regressions, it was found that the ESG rating has a statistically significant and positive effect on financial performance measured by Tobin's Q, showing that the market recognizes a premium over market value in those Companies that have an ESG score. Additionally, this work found that having a higher ESG rating does not have a significant effect on the financial performance of the companies analyzed, measured through ROE and ROA. However, through mean difference tests using the Welch test, it was observed that companies that implement ESG practices have better financial performance than those that do not implement any of these practices. These results indicate that while ESG performance can be important to a company’s overall market value, the lack of a meaningful relationship between ROE and ROA versus ESG ratings highlights that ESG ratings should not be viewed as the sole determinant of financial performance and that other factors must be taken into account, such as efficient cost management, leverage and market conditions.