Environmental&Social&Governance Behavior of Companies During the COVID-19 Outbreak

This study assesses the change in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) behavior of the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) ALL companies during the COVID-19 pandemic using panel data regression analysis. Additionally, cluster analysis highlights specific ESG strengths and challenges faced by these companies during the pandemic. For these purposes, data pertaining to the ESG scores and financial ratios of companies listed in the BIST-ALL for the years 2017-2020 is acquired from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database. The results of the regression analysis indicated a significant improvement in the ESG performance of the BIST ALL companies over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cluster analysis resulted in the classification of the companies into 5 distinct clusters. Notably, companies in sensitive industries such as energy, mining, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals exhibited poor ESG performance during the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, the cluster with superior ESG performance also demonstrated highly favorable financial ratios. This research provides valuable insights for assessing the ESG performance of companies during the pandemic.