A license to operate? An empirical examination of the influence of environmental and social performance on the financial performance of mining sector firms Online publication date: Tue, 24-Jun-2014
by Philip R. Walsh
International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development (IJISD), Vol. 8, No. 2, 2014
Abstract: The notion that firms owe a duty to the wider communities in which they operate is now widely accepted among practitioners and academics. If there is a link between corporate environmental and social responsibility (CESP) and corporate financial performance (CFP), no sector is likely to be more sensitive than the mining sector. I investigate the relationship by testing whether there is a relationship between the strategic intent of mining firms to employ sustainability activities and positive financial performance as reflected in their return on fixed assets (ROFA). The results suggest that for a sample of major global mining firms there is not a statistically significant association between their CFP and their actions taken to improve their CESP. However, this paper submits that any connection may be complicated by inconsistencies in assessing and reporting the environmental and social performance of a firm in a systematic, accurate and transparent manner.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development (IJISD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook