Sustainability reporting and its impacts on firm performance: Insights from a developing country

Abstract

With Vietnam’s rapid industrialization and increasing global integration, the study addresses the critical need to understand how sustainability practices influence financial outcomes. The primary objective is to assess the impact of key sustainability reporting attributes, and adherence to Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) standards, on financial performance measures such as Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Tobin's Q. Collecting data from 693 listed firms on the HOSE and HNX stock exchanges between 2018 and 2023, this study employs advanced methods, including Pooled OLS, FEM, REM, and GMM. Key findings reveal that while transparency in reporting and gender diversity on corporate boards positively impact financial performance, compliance with international ESG standards such as GRI and SDG can pose short-term financial challenges. The study also identifies significant sectoral and firm-specific variations, emphasizing the need for tailored ESG strategies. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical insights into how sustainability reporting interacts with financial performance. The research advances the understanding of sustainability reporting as both a corporate strategy and a governance tool, particularly in developing economies.