Sustainability Initiatives and Failure Risk of a Firm: How Are They Linked?

Abstract

This paper studies the link between corporate sustainability and failure risk. The two competing hypotheses rely on the controversies in the theoretical and empirical literature linking sustainability and financial performance. Analysis of a sample of Estonian non-listed companies of all sizes indicates that firms engaged in more sustainability initiatives exhibit a higher risk of failure in the short run. The results remain robust for different sustainability initiatives and periods, while being exclusively determined by firms active locally, not on foreign markets.