Economic Thought and Practice, , 2026.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.17818/EMIP/2026/30
PANEL REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF ESG PERFORMANCE OF EUROPEAN COMPANIES USING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOLS
Ana Babić
; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, Croatia
*
Anđela Kulaš
; Erste&steiermärkische bank d.d., Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This paper examines large and very large European companies using financial indicators and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings over a five-year period. The sample comprises 524 companies with available ESG ratings. Financial data were obtained from the Orbis Europe database, while ESG indicators were sourced from the ESG Book platform. After a correlation analysis supported by a Business Intelligence (BI) data integration approach, a fixed-effects panel model was applied to control for unobserved firm-specific characteristics over time. The results show that ESG ratings do not have a significant impact on short-term profitability, whereas firm size, measured by the logarithm of operating income, has a strong positive effect. Correlation analysis indicates that ESG ratings are more stable over time than Return on Assets (ROA) and Research and Development (R&D) indicators. The study contributes by demonstrating the use of BI systems in panel database construction and by providing evidence on the ESG–profitability relationship in Europe.
Keywords
ESG; Orbis; ESG Book; ROA; research and development; BI
Hrčak ID:
347648
URI
Publication date:
9.6.2026.
Visits: 245 *