Are Firms that Contribute to Sustainable Development Valued by Investors?

Abstract Sustainability reporting contributes to making sustainable development a higher priority for companies, increases the social responsibility of their managers, and reinforces the credibility and trust of their stakeholders. However, prior research about the value relevance of sustainability disclosure for financial stakeholders provides inconclusive results. In this context, the aim of our research is to analyse whether sustainability disclosure provides relevant information and incremental value for investors in the European setting where this practice has been steadily increasing in the period 2001–2013. Our overall results support the belief that conducting business in accordance with ethical norms is value relevant for European investors. However, our results also reveal that there is no homogeneity among markets, even for the periods before and after the global financial crisis. These findings could have several implications for internal and external stakeholders such as managers, shareholders, and policymakers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment