Investigating the joint effect of competitive strategies and pay gap on ESG performance

We investigate the joint effect of competitive strategies and the pay gap on ESG performance. We employ the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to derive the two competitive strategies, namely product differentiation and cost leadership. Based on data from firms listed in S&P1500 from 2000 to 2022, and using the Three Stage Least Square (3SLS) model, we hypothesize and find that cost leadership companies have a negative relationship with ESG performance, and the pay gap exacerbates this negative relationship. In contrast, we predict and find that product differentiation companies have a positive relationship with ESG performance, and the pay gap makes this positive relationship more pronounced. Overall, we contribute to the literature and managerial practices in three ways. First, we contribute to the literature on the pay gap by considering the company’s competitive strategy, an important variable that previous studies tend to ignore. The findings of our study suggest that researchers need to consider competitive strategy when investigating the relationship between the pay gap and ESG performance. Second, our study uses ESG performance rather than financial performance as the dependent variable. As such, our study contributes to the limited literature on the relationship between the pay gap and ESG performance. Finally, for practice, our study sheds an important light on understanding the strategic reasons underlying managers’ motivation to invest in ESG activities.