Thi Hanh Dung Truong

Type of the article: Research Article

In the evolving landscape of ASEAN capital markets, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure is increasingly recognized as a strategic driver of corporate value, with competitive advantage determining the extent to which its benefits are realized. This study aims to examine how competitive advantage moderates the relationship between ESG disclosure and firm value in the ASEAN emergent context. The study applies panel data comprising 2,801 observations from 726 listed companies in ASEAN during 2015-2023. Regression analysis was conducted using the two-step System Generalized Method of Moments, accompanied by a series of robustness tests. The findings emphasize ESG reporting benefits, as ESG disclosure positively influences all firm value proxies in baseline models (β_{ESG_Tobin’sQ} = 0.0034, p-value < 0.05; β_{ESG_LogMC} = 0.0040, p-value < 0.01; β_{ESG_PB} = 0.0047, p-value < 0.05). The interaction between ESG disclosure and competitive advantage is also positive and significant across the three measures (β_{ESGxCA_Tobin’sQ} = 0.0545, p-value < 0.05; β_{ESGxCA_LogMC} = 0.0254, p-value < 0.01; β_{ESGxCA_PB} = 0.0678, p-value < 0.01). These results suggest that the valuation implications of ESG disclosure are contingent on firms’ competitive advantage, with the estimated marginal effect generally increasing as competitive advantage improves. Accordingly, the study enriches the literature by resonating with the intersection between stakeholder theory and the resource-based view (RBV), demonstrating how competitive advantage conditions the link between ESG disclosure and firm value in ASEAN capital markets. The study suggests that managers should align financial objectives with stakeholder expectations and integrate ESG disclosure into broader corporate strategies to enhance valuation purposes.