DOES ESG IMPACT THE DIVIDEND DECISIONS IN THE BANKS IN INDIA? MODERATION BY DISCLOSURES AND NON-PERFORMING ASSETS

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the environmental (env) index, social (soc) index, governance (gov) index and environmental, social governance (ESG) index with dividends of the Indian banking sector. It also seeks to find evidence on the moderating effect of the transparency disclosure index (TDI) and non-performing assets (NPA) on the relationship between the ESG index with dividend decisions. The sample of 33 Indian banks representative of the major part of Indian banks has been considered for the post-crisis period 2010-2019. The data is retrieved using CMIE Prowess and the formal website of individual banks. The authors built two models using panel data methodology (PDM) to determine the specific effect of the env index, soc index, and gov index; and the consolidated effect of the ESG index on dividends (model 1 and 2, respectively). Additionally, another four PDMs are built to determine the interaction effect of TDI (models 3 and 4) and NPA (models 5 and 6) on the impact of ESG on dividends. Regression results indicate that the env and gov indexes significantly influence dividends. Further, we also find that a better ESG index causes a drop in banks’ dividends. Furthermore, although we find no interaction effect of TDI on the relationship between the ESG index and dividends, TDI by itself is detrimental to dividends. The study also finds that bank NPA levels harm the relationship between gov index and dividends. On the contrary, we find no moderating effect of NPA on the relationship between the env and soc index on dividends. However, NPA harms the relationship between ESG and dividends. In addition, NPA itself is detrimental to dividends. Our findings show that ESG disclosure enhances a bank’s reputation, fosters a better knowledge of its products, and, very crucially, strengthens its connections with its investors. There are a few studies on ESG index and equity dividends or profitability. However, studies highlighting the moderating role of TDI and NPA on the relationship between the ESG index with dividends, especially in the context of Indian banks, are absent.