Sustainability and Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Study of Value Creation

Abstract:     
This paper seeks to fill a gap in existing literature by testing whether sustainable companies are able to compete effectively in terms of financial performance and attractiveness to investors. Our sample consists of firms appearing in the Innovest 'Global 100' rankings released annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Our empirical results indicate that sustainable companies do not significantly underperform the stock market as a whole, and are viewed as highly competitive within their industries. We provide a theoretical basis for these results by linking classic corporate strategy and competitive advantage theories to the performance of sustainable enterprises.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 17

Keywords: sustainability, competitive advantage, strategy, empirical study, sustainable investing, Global 100, World Economic Forum, Davos, Blue Ocean Strategy

JEL Classification: A13, G10, G14, G15, K32, L10

Accepted Paper Series