The term sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria has gained greater importance globally in recent decades. As social and environmental issues increase, firms are advocating the need to be more sustainable. However, in this scenario, corporate controversies still persist, and an analysis of their causes is required. This study focuses on establishing the relationship between financial constraints (FC) and ESG controversies and on determining whether the country context might modify the controversial behaviours of financially constrained firms. Through a Tobit analysis for panel data—and using a sample of firms with headquarters in 47 countries—our results show a positive and significant influence of FC on ESG controversies. In addition, our evidence confirms that country context impacts relationships within the firm, and that opting for controversial activities is increasingly less viable for firms located in countries where there is institutionalized sustainability.

中文翻译：

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财务限制会导致环境、社会和治理争议吗？国家环境的作用


近几十年来，可持续性和环境、社会和治理 （ESG） 标准一词在全球范围内变得越来越重要。随着社会和环境问题的增加，公司正在倡导提高可持续性的必要性。然而，在这种情况下，公司争议仍然存在，需要分析其原因。本研究的重点是确定财务约束 （FC） 与 ESG 争议之间的关系，并确定国家环境是否会改变财务受限公司的争议行为。通过对面板数据的 Tobit 分析，并使用总部位于 47 个国家/地区的公司样本，我们的结果表明 FC 对 ESG 争议产生了积极而重大的影响。此外，我们的证据证实，国家环境会影响公司内部的关系，并且对于位于制度化可持续性的国家的公司来说，选择有争议的活动越来越不可行。