A research gap exists concerning the moderating roles of corporate governance mechanisms on the nexus of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and firm value. This study aims to address this gap in the Australian corporate context. We examine whether ESG performance can enhance firm value and whether this relationship is moderated by the corporate governance mechanisms to balance stakeholder interests. Drawing on a sample from the ASX, we find that while high ESG performance can increase firm value, this effect diminishes in the presence of the large number of supply chain contracts. We further discovered a negative moderating effect of board independence and audit quality on ESG performance and firm value. Our findings highlight the contingent nature of ESG value creation, indicating that while ESG activities can enhance firm value, their impact depends on firms’ governance context and contractual arrangements that shape shareholders’ outcomes collectively.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the enviropreneurial marketing approach used by firms in China and its impact on the success of green marketing actions, with the aim of drawing useful lessons from the literature and successful green firms.Design/methodology/approach: This study follows the inductive case study approach, and the qualitative data come from a study of four firms engaging in enviropreneurial marketing activities. Interview data were triangulated with qualitative data from other sources.Findings: The evidence from this study indicates that enviropreneurial marketing plays a central role in developing innovative product or services, adopting an innovative and pragmatic green marketing mix that differentiates and creates changes within industry and markets.Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is that data samples are from successful firms labelled as “green” by the Chinese authorities, based on winning “official” awards. These do not necessarily represent the opinions of a cross section of firms within China with respect to enviropreneurial marketing. Future studies should include a mixed population of firms.Practical implications: Policy makers and marketing practitioners need to consider drivers to ensure that Chinese firms integrate enviropreneurial marketing activities, which need to complement the delivery of functional value.Social implications: Green initiatives/changes within the firm seem to be partly driven by the environmental orientation of these firms’ founders, thus, developing an environmental orientation in managers may be important to drive enviropreneurial marketing activities.Originality/value: This study contributes by confirming the current literature on green marketing and examining the positive impact of enviropreneurial marketing on firms’ performance in the context of marketing in emerging markets.

This paper utilizes agency and stakeholder theories to explore the relationship between ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance and supply chain contracts. Drawing from data using a sample of ASX 300 firms over the period of 2012 to 2021, our analysis reveals a negative relationship between ESG performance and supply chain contracts, aligning with agency theory principles. Furthermore, this negative association is observed to be more pronounced among firms characterized by lower levels of information asymmetry. These findings hold significant practical implications for management, business suppliers, and customers alike. Specifically, managers can leverage these insights to reinforce the commitment of supply chain partners towards ESG initiatives, thereby enhancing sustainability practices within the supply chain ecosystem.