“…Finally, the corporate finance literature examines ESG and cost of capital, corporate governance, operational activities, and corporate performance. Findings suggest that ESG practices can improve a company's operational and financial efficiency, and reduce risk, which in turn leads to better access to capital and greater sustainability, thereby increasing corporate value (Kalnbalkite et al, 2023;Li et al, 2023;Motla et al, 2023;Mushafiq, 2023;Raihan, 2023a;Raihan, 2023b;Silva et al, 2023;Tchouto, 2023;Wong et al, 2021;Yi et al, 2023;Zheng, Feng, et al, 2023;Zhou et al, 2022). Although research on ESG has been conducted for nearly two decades, the majority of existing studies have been conducted from a micro perspective, with corporate ESG as the subject of study, and few studies have examined country-by-country macro ESG behavior.…”