Determinants of Environmental, Social, and Governance Measures: Evidence from European Insurance Companies

The present study aims to assess the determinants of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of European insurance companies, exploring the connections between the determinants and each of the three ESG pillars. Using a European panel dataset, the study includes a sample of the 30 most relevant European insurance companies listed in the stock exchange index Stoxx Europe 600 index, over the period 2016–2020. Main findings indicate that older insurance companies, with a larger dimension and profitability, less leveraged, with smaller boards, but with more gender diverse boards, with a sustainability committee and with a standalone sustainability report, tend to present a higher level of ESG performance. Findings also indicate that insurance companies with higher ESG performance are located in countries with higher gross domestic product growth rate. The current research setting has never been studied hitherto. Therefore, it adds to the limited empirical research on the determinants of ESG performance among insurance companies, which is focused on insurances companies in the United States of America.