Determinants of Time to High Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Performance: A Stratified Cox Survival Analysis
Sustainability (Switzerland), cilt.18, sa.17, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 18 Sayı: 17
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3390/su18178813
- Dergi Adı: Sustainability (Switzerland)
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, CAB Abstracts, Geobase, INSPEC
- Anahtar Kelimeler: corporate sustainability, Cox proportional hazards model, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), ESG performance, ESG transition dynamics, survival analysis
- Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study aims to examine the time it takes for firms to achieve high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, and the firm characteristics that influence this process. Much of the existing literature on ESG treats ESG performance as a static variable and examines the temporal dynamics of firms’ ESG transformation processes to a limited degree. The present study considers ESG performance as a dynamic process that unfolds over time. The research used a firm-level panel data set covering the period 2015–2025. In the analyses, achieving a high ESG performance event was defined as the relevant ESG score exceeding the 75th percentile in the sample distribution. The firms that did not reach the relevant ESG level during the observation period were classified as right-censored observations. Therefore, the Stratified Cox Proportional Hazards Model was utilized in this study. In this study, four separate models were estimated, including Overall ESG, Environmental ESG, Social ESG, and Governance ESG. Additionally, a sector-based stratification approach was applied to control for structural differences among sectors. The findings are expected to show that firm size, profitability, and growth dynamics have different effects on the speed at which firms achieve high ESG performance. The present study contributes to the ESG literature in three ways. Initially, it treats ESG performance as a dynamic process, not a static one. Furthermore, it applies survival analysis and a censored data approach to the ESG literature. Finally, it offers a more comprehensive assessment of ESG transition dynamics by examining the environmental, social, and governance dimensions of ESG through separate models.