Ecological Responsibility and Economic Performance of Russian Companies

This study uses econometric methods to investigate whether the environmental dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility - Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) - affects the economic performance of the Russian companies. The environmental disclosure is used as a proxy to measure environmental responsibility, and ROA is applied to estimate financial performance. This paper collects panel data on 100 private companies listed in Forbes for the period from 2015 to 2019. The results of the study can help to understand the condition of environmental management in Russia and show whether following the environmental responsibility principles is economically feasible and promising and whether the society is ready to appreciate such practices. While the foreign studies often reveal the positive relationship between these variables, the present research shows no significant effect of environmental disclosure on a company's economic efficiency. This finding can be the signal that the environment for corporate responsibility practices in Russia is still underdeveloped and that policy makers and managers have to improve their decisions.