Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies

In the scientific literature, there is a lack of a systematic approach to credit risk factors. In addition, insufficient attention is still paid to analysing the macroeconomic factors of consumer loan credit risk. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the macroeconomic factors of consumer loan credit risk in Central and Eastern European countries’ banking systems. The findings of the study can be formulated as follows. After analysing scientific literature on credit risk factors, an improved and detailed (at five different levels) classification of factors influencing banking credit risk is proposed. This classification can be beneficial for more enhanced analysis of the factors influencing banking credit risk for the whole loan portfolio as well as for different types of loans, e.g., consumer loans. For quantitative evaluation of the impact of macroeconomic factors on consumer loan credit risk, the methods of panel data analysis and bivariate and multiple regressions are employed. Eleven CEE countries in the period from 2008 to 2020 are analysed. The results revealed that the aggregate of general macroeconomic condition factors is negatively related to consumer loan NPLs. Moreover, the economic growth, stock market, foreign exchange market, and institutional environment factors proved to be risk-decreasing, while credit market and bond market factors had a risk-increasing impact. The results of this research might help financial institutions manage credit risk more efficiently and also might be relevant to governments and central banks when selecting and applying fiscal and monetary policy measures. This study also makes policy recommendations.

This paper examines the association between ESG disclosure and corporate financial performance (CFP) and assesses whether this association differs across selected Western European (WE) and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Using Bloomberg database data for 4553 firms from selected WE and CEE countries over 2013-2024, bivariate and multivariate panel regression models (constant, fixed, and random effects) are constructed. The Bloomberg ESG disclosure score is selected as an independent variable, while return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), EBITDA margin, net profit margin, the price-to-book ratio, and shareholder yield are selected as dependent variables. The results reveal that ESG disclosure appeared to be negatively associated with ROA and ROE, positively associated with shareholder yield, and not significantly associated with the remaining performance measures; moreover, regional differences are observed only for selected accounting-based measures, with a stronger negative association in CEE countries. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing comparative evidence across WE and CEE and demonstrating that the association between ESG disclosure and CFP varies by performance measures and institutional environments.

This study examines the association between ESG disclosure and corporate financial performance (CFP) and assesses whether this association differs across selected Western European (WE) and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Using Bloomberg data for 4553 firms from 2013 to 2024, this study applies bivariate and multivariate pooled, fixed-effects, and random-effects panel regression models. The Bloomberg ESG disclosure score is used as the independent variable, while return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), EBITDA margin, net profit margin, price-to-book ratio, and shareholder yield represent different dimensions of CFP. The results reveal that ESG disclosure is negatively associated with ROA and ROE, positively associated with shareholder yield, and not significantly associated with the remaining performance measures. Moreover, regional differences are observed only for selected accounting-based measures, with a stronger negative association in CEE countries. This study contributes to the literature by providing comparative evidence from WE and CEE firms and demonstrating that the association between ESG disclosure and CFP varies across performance measures and between the two regional groups.