IMPLICATIONS OF THE SOCIAL FACTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE AND RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENTS AND BUSINESS

Branka Tuskan Sjaus (), Magdalena Zlovolic () and Jaksa Kristo ()
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Branka Tuskan Sjaus: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business
Magdalena Zlovolic: Ernst & Young Consulting LTD, Croatia
Jaksa Kristo: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business

Economic Thought and Practice, 2024, vol. 33, issue 1, 297-325

Abstract: The recognition of environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) in the business conduct of is a phenomenon that has significantly expanded in the last decade due to awareness of the importance of caring for the environment and climate, and for socially responsible and sustainable business, additionally motivated by the growth of investors’ interest for such investments. Due to the strong expansion of environmentally, socially and/or governance responsible and sustainable business conduct and investments, there was a need for their more specific regulation. Of the aforementioned factors, the environmental (E) aspect of business received the most attention, which is also the most concretely measurable, while the social (S) and management (G) factors remained subordinate and less represented in this regard. This research is focused on the scope analysis, the measurement issues, and the impact of the social factor because human capital is an important factor in business, so respect for the interests and attitude towards employees, colleagues, customers, suppliers and the community is part of responsible and sustainable business. The empirical study on the application of sustainable and responsible business factors with a special focus on the social factor in the European Union in the financial industry and a more detailed analysis of the situation in Croatia is based on the latest available data for 2021 and 2022. The comparative analysis and proposals on the expression and measurement of the factors of sustainable and responsible business, the systematic presentation of the development and upgrading of the regulation of the field of responsible and sustainable business and investment, as well as the results of the analysis of the relative presentation and acceptance of ESG factors allowed conclusions to be drawn on the concretisation of the potential of the implementation and upgrading of a measurable social factor using the example of business insurance companies.

Keywords: ESG; social criteria; sustainable; responsible; investments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G20 G31 M14 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.17818/EMIP/2024/1.14

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