ESG disclosure and financial performance in Indian hospitality firms using text mining
- 1Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
- 2Affiliate Faculty and Senior Economist, School of environmental and forestry sciences, University of Washington Seattle
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures and firm financial performance in the Indian tourism and hospitality sector. Although ESG practices have gained significant attention from investors, regulators, and stakeholders, empirical evidence on their financial implications in emerging markets remains limited. This study measures ESG disclosure using a text-mining approach applied to corporate annual reports. Specifically, the Sentence-BERT (SBERT) model is employed to identify and quantify environmental, social, and governance disclosures from firms’ textual reports. The empirical analysis uses a panel dataset of 73 publicly listed hospitality and tourism firms in India covering the period 2015–2024. Firm financial performance is measured using accounting-based indicators. Panel regression techniques, including pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), fixed-effects models, and dynamic panel estimation using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), are employed to examine the relationship between ESG disclosure and firm performance. The findings provide mixed evidence regarding the financial impact of ESG disclosure. While initial results indicate a negative relationship with short-term profitability, the effects weaken after controlling for firm-specific factors and dynamic performance, suggesting that ESG initiatives may represent long-term strategic investments.
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BibTeX
@article{menon2026disclosure,
title = {{ESG disclosure and financial performance in Indian hospitality firms using text mining}},
author = {Dileep G. Menon and Sangeetha Gunasekar and Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan},
journal = {Discover Sustainability},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1007/s43621-026-03994-0},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-03994-0},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - ESG disclosure and financial performance in Indian hospitality firms using text mining
AU - Dileep G. Menon
AU - Sangeetha Gunasekar
AU - Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Discover Sustainability
DO - 10.1007/s43621-026-03994-0
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-03994-0
AB - This study examines the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures and firm financial performance in the Indian tourism and hospitality sector. Although ESG practices have gained significant attention from investors, regulators, and stakeholders, empirical evidence on their financial implications in emerging markets remains limited. This study measures ESG disclosure using a text-mining approach applied to corporate annual reports. Specifically, the Sentence-BERT (SBERT) model is employed to identify and quantify environmental, social, and governance disclosures from firms’ textual reports. The empirical analysis uses a panel dataset of 73 publicly listed hospitality and tourism firms in India covering the period 2015–2024. Firm financial performance is measured using accounting-based indicators. Panel regression techniques, including pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), fixed-effects models, and dynamic panel estimation using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), are employed to examine the relationship between ESG disclosure and firm performance. The findings provide mixed evidence regarding the financial impact of ESG disclosure. While initial results indicate a negative relationship with short-term profitability, the effects weaken after controlling for firm-specific factors and dynamic performance, suggesting that ESG initiatives may represent long-term strategic investments.
SN - 2662-9984
ER -