XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 287
DISCUSSION
Sustainability Behaviours and Financial Performance
Table 11 summarizes the associations between financial
performance (ROA and Tobin’s Q) and various sustainabil-
ity and corporate practice predictors in the mining indus-
try. The entity fixed effects regression without time effects
revealed significant relationships for several variables.
Firm size, a control variable, exhibited a positive asso-
ciation with both ROA and Tobin’s Q, affirming its role in
enhancing financial performance. This finding aligns with
previous studies (Khuong et al., 2022 Xia et al., 2022).
Conversely, energy efficiency, another control variable,
demonstrated a significant negative relationship with both
metrics, likely due to high upfront costs and long payback
periods. This contrasts with some prior research suggesting
investors value low-carbon producers (Fyson et al., 2020).
Total incentives and assessment and measurement activities
also emerged as statistically significant determinants of ROA.
Additional sustainability-related variables, including
financial leverage, communications, training, and volun-
teerism, did not show significant relationships with ROA
or Tobin’s Q in the tested models. These activities may not
have a direct impact, or their impact may be offset by other
factors. Introducing time effects in the regression models
did not substantially alter the significance of most vari-
ables. Firm size, energy efficiency, and total new products
remained key determinants of financial performance.
These results support the alternative hypothesis (H1),
indicating a significant connection between specific sus-
tainability behaviors and improved financial performance,
as measured by ROA and Tobin’s Q. Firm size, energy effi-
ciency, total incentives, and assessment and measurement
Table 10. Entity fixed effects regression with multi-way clustering of errors
tobin_q_ratio Coefficient std. err. t Pt [95% conf. interval] Sig
fncl_lvrg –0.0789 0.1597 –0.49 0.626 –0.4100 0.2522
size 0.3511 0.1352 2.6 0.016 0.0707 0.6316 **
energy_efficiency –0.2474 0.1096 –2.26 0.034 –0.4747 –0.0201 **
total_adoptofstandards_rules 0.1220 0.1586 0.77 0.45 –0.2070 0.4510
total_associations –0.0451 0.0403 –1.12 0.275 –0.1287 0.0385
total_communications 0.0043 0.0406 0.11 0.916 –0.0799 0.0886
total_donationfundings 0.0200 0.0399 0.5 0.621 –0.0627 0.1027
total_assetmodifications –0.0016 0.0252 –0.06 0.95 –0.0539 0.0507
total_incentives 0.1068 0.0808 1.32 0.2 –0.0607 0.2743
total_modificationofprocedures 0.0108 0.0250 0.43 0.669 –0.0410 0.0626
total_newproducts –0.1469 0.0521 –2.82 0.01 –0.2550 –0.0387 **
total_orgstructuring 0.0233 0.0599 0.39 0.701 –0.1010 0.1475
total_rdinvestments 0.0481 0.0549 0.88 0.391 –0.0658 0.1621
total_training 0.0087 0.0337 0.26 0.8 –0.0612 0.0785
total_volunteerism –0.1555 0.1292 –1.2 0.241 –0.4234 0.1123
total_assess_measurement –0.0201 0.0273 –0.74 0.47 –0.0768 0.0366
_cons –2.0291 1.1515 –1.76 0.092 –4.4171 0.3589
R-squared 0.7614 Number of obs 90.000
F-test 10.18 Prob F 0
Number of clusters (comp_id) 23 Root MSE 0.2823
Table 11. Summary of results on the relationship between
carbon emissions and firm financial performance
Variable
Financial Performance
Relationship
ROA Tobin Q
fncl_lvrg Negative Negative
size Positive Positive
energy_efficiency Negative Negative
total_adoptofstandards_rules Negative Positive
total_associations Negative Negative
total_communications Positive Positive
total_donationfundings Positive Positive
total_assetmodifications Positive Negative
total_incentives Negative Positive
total_modificationofprocedures Positive Positive
total_newproducts Negative Negative
total_orgstructuring Positive Positive
total_rdinvestments Positive Positive
total_training Positive Positive
total_volunteerism Positive Negative
total_assess_measurement Negative Negative
Number of firms 30 30
DISCUSSION
Sustainability Behaviours and Financial Performance
Table 11 summarizes the associations between financial
performance (ROA and Tobin’s Q) and various sustainabil-
ity and corporate practice predictors in the mining indus-
try. The entity fixed effects regression without time effects
revealed significant relationships for several variables.
Firm size, a control variable, exhibited a positive asso-
ciation with both ROA and Tobin’s Q, affirming its role in
enhancing financial performance. This finding aligns with
previous studies (Khuong et al., 2022 Xia et al., 2022).
Conversely, energy efficiency, another control variable,
demonstrated a significant negative relationship with both
metrics, likely due to high upfront costs and long payback
periods. This contrasts with some prior research suggesting
investors value low-carbon producers (Fyson et al., 2020).
Total incentives and assessment and measurement activities
also emerged as statistically significant determinants of ROA.
Additional sustainability-related variables, including
financial leverage, communications, training, and volun-
teerism, did not show significant relationships with ROA
or Tobin’s Q in the tested models. These activities may not
have a direct impact, or their impact may be offset by other
factors. Introducing time effects in the regression models
did not substantially alter the significance of most vari-
ables. Firm size, energy efficiency, and total new products
remained key determinants of financial performance.
These results support the alternative hypothesis (H1),
indicating a significant connection between specific sus-
tainability behaviors and improved financial performance,
as measured by ROA and Tobin’s Q. Firm size, energy effi-
ciency, total incentives, and assessment and measurement
Table 10. Entity fixed effects regression with multi-way clustering of errors
tobin_q_ratio Coefficient std. err. t Pt [95% conf. interval] Sig
fncl_lvrg –0.0789 0.1597 –0.49 0.626 –0.4100 0.2522
size 0.3511 0.1352 2.6 0.016 0.0707 0.6316 **
energy_efficiency –0.2474 0.1096 –2.26 0.034 –0.4747 –0.0201 **
total_adoptofstandards_rules 0.1220 0.1586 0.77 0.45 –0.2070 0.4510
total_associations –0.0451 0.0403 –1.12 0.275 –0.1287 0.0385
total_communications 0.0043 0.0406 0.11 0.916 –0.0799 0.0886
total_donationfundings 0.0200 0.0399 0.5 0.621 –0.0627 0.1027
total_assetmodifications –0.0016 0.0252 –0.06 0.95 –0.0539 0.0507
total_incentives 0.1068 0.0808 1.32 0.2 –0.0607 0.2743
total_modificationofprocedures 0.0108 0.0250 0.43 0.669 –0.0410 0.0626
total_newproducts –0.1469 0.0521 –2.82 0.01 –0.2550 –0.0387 **
total_orgstructuring 0.0233 0.0599 0.39 0.701 –0.1010 0.1475
total_rdinvestments 0.0481 0.0549 0.88 0.391 –0.0658 0.1621
total_training 0.0087 0.0337 0.26 0.8 –0.0612 0.0785
total_volunteerism –0.1555 0.1292 –1.2 0.241 –0.4234 0.1123
total_assess_measurement –0.0201 0.0273 –0.74 0.47 –0.0768 0.0366
_cons –2.0291 1.1515 –1.76 0.092 –4.4171 0.3589
R-squared 0.7614 Number of obs 90.000
F-test 10.18 Prob F 0
Number of clusters (comp_id) 23 Root MSE 0.2823
Table 11. Summary of results on the relationship between
carbon emissions and firm financial performance
Variable
Financial Performance
Relationship
ROA Tobin Q
fncl_lvrg Negative Negative
size Positive Positive
energy_efficiency Negative Negative
total_adoptofstandards_rules Negative Positive
total_associations Negative Negative
total_communications Positive Positive
total_donationfundings Positive Positive
total_assetmodifications Positive Negative
total_incentives Negative Positive
total_modificationofprocedures Positive Positive
total_newproducts Negative Negative
total_orgstructuring Positive Positive
total_rdinvestments Positive Positive
total_training Positive Positive
total_volunteerism Positive Negative
total_assess_measurement Negative Negative
Number of firms 30 30