Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and ESG Scores: Do They Tell the Same Story?

Minoo Tehrani (), Andreas Rathgeber, Edward Dougherty, Lawrence Fulton and James Fournier
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Minoo Tehrani: Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI 02809, USA
Andreas Rathgeber: Institute of Materials Resource Management, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Edward Dougherty: Mathematical Sciences, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI 02840, USA
Lawrence Fulton: Boston College, Woods College of Advance Studies, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
James Fournier: Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI 02809, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-18

Abstract: The focal point of this research is to compare two of the largest global organizations’ sustainability indices and scores, namely Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSIs) and Standard & Poor’s Global (S&P Global) ESG scores (environmental, social, and governance), which rank companies based on their sustainability practices, and to learn if they correspond to each other. Considering that Germany is the hub of large companies from leading global industries, this research compares the ESG scores of the German companies that appear on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Several statistical analyses are conducted to determine if the German companies on the DJSIs correspond with high ESG scores. The years under consideration are 2018 through 2023. The results of this research indicate that DJSIs and ESG scores do not tell the same story and there are discrepancies regarding the sustainability practices of the studied companies that are added to the DJSIs and the assigned high ESG scores by S&P Global.

Keywords: ESG scores; Dow Jones Sustainability Indices; correlation; German companies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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