Corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethics, and sustainability have become an inseparable part of the discourse of modern business. Applying linear regression and comparison of intervals of beta-coefficients, we focused on the mediating role of CSR in the relations between capital structure and its determinants. Examining the sample of European large caps, we observed that CSR companies are significantly more leveraged than non-CSR ones. The influence of the corporate income tax rate and depreciation and amortization on leverage does not differ significantly between CSR and non-CSR companies. Moreover, tax shields seem to be insignificant for both CSR and non-CSR companies. However, we should stress that, for depreciation and amortization, the beta coefficient has a different significance in the model of CSR companies, compared to the model of non-CSR companies. Also, the difference between the models regarding the relations of leverage and asset tangibility is worth noting. Non-CSR companies with a higher proportion of fixed assets have lower leverage. This result was not confirmed for CSR companies. The hypothesis that CSR replaces the role of collateral cannot be confirmed. Available cash influences leverage negatively in both models, supporting the pecking-order theory. This result is much stronger for non-CSR companies compared to CSR ones. This study found fewer statistically significant differences between CSR and non-CSR companies regarding capital structure determinants than were expected.

This study scrutinizes the potential correlation between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores and the profitability of firms listed in the selected STOXX Europe 600 index. Utilizing panel regression analysis, the study examines data from 385 non-financial companies over the period 2017 to 2021, correlating CSRHub's ESG scores and selected financial variables with corporate profitability measured by ROA. The investigation reveals that, overall, ESG scores do not have a significant impact on profitability, except for the ESG-community sub-score, which shows a slight negative influence. Thus, this paper partially supports studies that show a negative correlation between ESG and profitability, even though such results are in the minority in the literature. The overall results suggest that while ESG scores may reflect a company's ethical stance, they are not a predominant factor influencing its profitability. However, this is not the case for leverage, as the importance of capital structure for profitability is confirmed. AcknowledgmentThis research has been supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Slovak Republic under project VEGA No. 1/0579/21.

Several capital structure theories typically consider firm value maximization as the primary goal. In this paper, we propose a shift in this aim to stock yield maximization and investigate its implications. We address two specific issues: first, the redefined primary aim of stock yield maximization; second, the use of adjusted leverage measurement tools to explore the negative correlation between profitability and leverage, which similarly affects the relationship between stock yield and leverage. We verify the validity of capital structure theories under this new aim through an analysis of the relationship between stock yield and leverage, using both standard and adjusted measures. Our study focuses on European listed non-financial firms and reveals a negative correlation between stock yield (both capital and overall) and leverage with standard measures, contradicting existing theories. However, applying adjusted leverage measures confirms capital structure irrelevancy under the new aim, supporting the classical theory and the MM model. Notably, dividend yield positively correlates with leverage, aligning with investor expectations in more leveraged firms, as supported by several theories.