ESG Scores and Its Impact on Firm Performance: Study from Nifty100 Firms

The study examines how environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores impact the operational, financial and market performance of firms indexed in the Nifty 100 index for short and long observation periods. Return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin’s Q are employed as proxies to evaluate the firms’ performance. The longitudinal research design draws upon secondary data from Bloomberg for ESG scores and Prowess for Interactive Querying for performance indicators. It employs panel regression analysis, and the results indicate a significant difference in the short and long observation periods. ESG adversely affects firms’ operational and financial performance over an extended observation period and has insignificant effects over a short observation period. Conversely, it reports a statistically significant positive impact on market performance in short and long observation periods. It concludes by recognizing its limitations, discussing policy implications and sketching a roadmap for future research. JEL Classification: Q51, Q56