How Different ESG Factors Across Cultures Affect Financial Performance

This paper examines the financial performance of publicly traded companies based on their ESG factors’ specific commitment across different cultures. Using ESG ratings from HIP Investor Inc. on companies the agency evaluates and cultural dimensions as defined by Geert Hofstede, the average stock return of companies was compared to countries’ main stock indexes. The results show that the majority of the analyzed combinations of ESG factors and cultural dimensions outperformed the main stock indexes between the years 2016 and 2020. Moreover, it seems that for ESG committed companies, culture plays a role in ESG practices as well as financial performance