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Recent studies have shown that the lack of environmental regulations in public administrations, the inability of employees to innovate knowledge and skills, the high price of green technologies, and the lack of environmental awareness in organizations are the biggest threats to the environmental and sustainable development. In this context, manufacturing companies in emerging markets should not only focus on achieving a higher level of business sustainability in economic and financial terms, but also pay attention to financial and green innovation, because they are important ways to achieve a green transformation of businesses, to improve sustainability, and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This study provides data on the adoption and repercussions of these activities on the sustainability of manufacturing companies in Mexico. The proposed research model was validated by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on a sample of 338 companies. The results of the study showed that the business sustainability of manufacturing companies significantly improved through the application of financial and green innovation. In addition, the results of the study showed that green innovation plays the role of a mediating variable in the relationship between financial innovation and corporate sustainable development.

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We investigated the variations in the corporate financial performance (CFP) of firms that integrate ESG factors into their business practices, focusing on the mediating role of corporate efficiency (CE). Using 909 company-level data, we applied Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure CE. We examined how these efficiency scores and CFP viz., Return on Assets (ROA), market value, and profit after tax (PAT) are influenced at different levels of ESG. To provide variational and distributional aspects, we employed quantile regression to estimate the relationship between ESG, CE, and CFP across different quantiles. The findings indicated that the impact of ESG integration on efficiency and CFP positively varies across quantiles. Further, a non-linear U-shaped relationship is established between the overall ESG score, environmental score, and social score with the CE. The efficiency initially dips at a lower disclosure score and surges to its highest at a higher disclosure score. Finally, our results revealed that ESG integration brings CE, which in turn channeled into financial outcomes, suggesting that CE plays a crucial mediating role. These results contribute to the understanding of how ESG practices can be leveraged for better financial outcomes through CE. These findings provide companies and policymakers with vital direction, encouraging a focus on robust ESG disclosure in establishing the path toward long-term corporate sustainability and profitability, guided by improved CE.

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Digital technology promotes the dual transformation of enterprise digitization and greenization, thereby promoting the synergistic efficiency between the digital economy and the green economy. This paper collected financial data from 2010 to 2021 from Chinese listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Through an in-depth semantic analysis of textual data, the study constructed an index to measure the level of enterprise digitization. Utilizing panel data models, the paper explored the impact of digital technology on enterprise green innovation and its mechanisms from the perspectives of quality and quantity. The research findings are as follows: (1) Digital technology significantly enhances the capability of enterprises for green innovation, with an emphasis on quality rather than quantity; (2) digital technology effectively alleviates financing constraints and information constraints, thereby enhancing the level of enterprise green innovation, but the former’s effect is limited to small and medium-sized enterprises; (3) the “quality over quantity” effect of digital technology on enterprise green innovation is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, non-heavy polluting industries, and enterprises located in regions with moderate to low levels of economic development.

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Recently, European regulation on sustainability preferences has made green finance a mainstream topic for retail investors. On the contrary, green innovation is largely discussed as bearing risks, and renewable energy projects are sometimes referred to as related to high risk. Our article aimed to shed light on retail investors’ risk exposure in green finance. In the literature review, we rarely found the retail investor’s risk perspective reflected, and green finance risk in terms of major capital loss was not explicitly stated as a research topic. We aimed to close this gap in the literature and apply a multiple case study approach with cases from the renewable energy sector to analyze the components that nurture green finance risk. For case description, we leveraged publicly available online information such as press articles, financial reporting, mandatory disclosure from the represented company, and pre-contractual information of the financial instruments marketed. Our findings suggest that green finance risk (GFR) is nurtured by risk components from the categories of financial instrument risk (FIR), investee company risk (ICR), and operational risk (OR) of renewable energy projects. The cross-case analysis identified red flags that might alert future investors. Additionally, we suggested measures to mitigate green finance risk and propose regulatory improvements. Our research marks a starting point for future quantitative and qualitative research.

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The aim of this study was to assess the impact of diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives in workplaces on both financial performance and environmental considerations (referred to as ecoefficiency, ECO). We focused on the energy sector, a significant environmental contributor, and the research spanned from 2016 to 2022, analyzing a broad global sample of 373 firms from 53 countries. ECO was evaluated by integrating environmental scores and conventional financial metrics using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between the collective indicator of diversity, inclusion, people development, and the absence of labor incidents on ECO. Specifically, practices related to workforce diversity, cultural and gender implementation, and investments in employee training and development opportunities were found to be beneficial for ECO. Additionally, we found that these policies impact the environmental component of ECO. However, no significant relationship was observed between practices related to inclusion policies and controversial labors, and ECO. Furthermore, the results suggested that ECO within the energy sector is influenced by factors such as board size, the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects into executive remuneration, the adoption of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, alignment with the United Nations (UN) Environmental Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the implementation of quality management systems. Conversely, CEO-chairman duality and the presence of independent board members do not significantly impact ECO in energy companies. These research findings provide valuable insights and recommendations for industry managers pursuing sustainable business practices, particularly through effective talent management strategies. Additionally, they offer guidance for investors interested in constructing environmentally conscious portfolios.