Does water, waste, and energy consumption influence firm performance? Panel data evidence from S &P 500 information technology sector

Abstract

This paper aimed to investigate the impact of water, waste, and energy consumption on firm performance for a sample of enterprises that belong to the S&P 500 Information Technology sector over the period of 2009–2020. The quantitative framework covered both accounting (e.g., return on assets—ROA; return on common equity—ROE; return on capital—ROC; return on invested capital—ROIC) and market-based measures of performance (e.g., price-to-book value— PB), alongside firm and corporate governance specific variables. By estimating multivariate panel data regression models, the empirical results provided support for a negative impact of total water use on PB but a positive effect on ROA. With reference to the total waste, the econometric outcomes revealed a negative influence on the entire selected performance measures, whereas total energy consumption did not reveal any statistically significant influence.