Green corporate social responsibility and the impact on the financial cost of businesses in Vietnam: considering the environmental aspect

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify and provide a comprehensive picture of the impact of implementing environmental social responsibility on the financial costs of companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The survey sample used is the 50 largest capitalized companies at present, the data period from 2016 to 2022, and the total number of observations is 350. With the use of multiple estimation methods such as OLS model, fixed effects model, random effects model, and FLGS, the author finds that the implementation of green social responsibility has a reverse impact on the financial costs of businesses. Further analysis, the author also found that for companies with different levels of pollution, the cost-saving effectiveness brought by green CSR is different. Specifically, compared to companies with low pollution levels, the regulatory impact between environmental responsibility behavior and financial cost savings of companies in high-pollution industries will be significantly weakened. In addition, the author has not found a correlation between ownership structure and financial cost-saving impact when implementing green CSR. In conclusion, this study has enriched the topic of implementing social responsibility for the environment affecting the financial cost management of businesses. In addition, the survey allows the author to understand the status of CSR information disclosure of listed companies in Vietnam. Through the research, the author encourages companies to pay more attention to the implementation of social responsibility, especially for the environment, as this will help the company save financial costs, thereby magnifying or “highlighting” the company’s profit, because profit is an important indicator affecting the existence of a company.