Maria Fátima Ribeiro Borges

This study aims to examine the consistency between a company's internal discourse and the external information it discloses. The analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, alongside the reconstruction of silent accounts and shadow accounts, enables the identification of potential discrepancies. The scope of the topic was delimited through a case study of the Baixo Sabor dam, a project with significant social and environmental impacts, which led to increased media coverage and corporate communication. The research findings indicate that, for the majority of participants, despite growing concern for environmental and social issues, price remains the primary factor considered by consumers when choosing a product or service. Quality and convenience are regarded as intermediate factors, while corporate social responsibility is considered the least influential.

The present study aims to assess the determinants of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of European insurance companies, exploring the connections between the determinants and each of the three ESG pillars. Using a European panel dataset, the study includes a sample of the 30 most relevant European insurance companies listed in the stock exchange index Stoxx Europe 600 index, over the period 2016–2020. Main findings indicate that older insurance companies, with a larger dimension and profitability, less leveraged, with smaller boards, but with more gender diverse boards, with a sustainability committee and with a standalone sustainability report, tend to present a higher level of ESG performance. Findings also indicate that insurance companies with higher ESG performance are located in countries with higher gross domestic product growth rate. The current research setting has never been studied hitherto. Therefore, it adds to the limited empirical research on the determinants of ESG performance among insurance companies, which is focused on insurances companies in the United States of America.