Damla Durak Uşar PhD in Business, Operations Management

Title: Corporate Sustainability Interactions and Corporate Financial Performance

Date: November 21, Tuesday
Time:  11:00
Location: AB2 345

Thesis Committee:
Prof. Dr. Meltem Denizel, Iowa State University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ulaş Özen, Özyeğin University
Asst. Prof. Dr. Özgün Ekici, Özyeğin University
Prof. Dr. Serpil Sayın, Koç University
Prof. Dr. Can Akkan, Sabancı University

Abstract: There is a large amount of empirical literature focused on the relationship between corporate sustainability and corporate financial performance. The literature considers firm specific aspects affecting the link but omits the influence of the competition. I view the sustainability decisions of companies as strategic decisions and use the Stackelberg game to model the effect of competition and sustainability spillovers on sustainability interactions. I rely on computational methods to identify the conditions, when the first mover advantage or the second mover advantage arises. I turn to empirical methods in order to validate the inferences made from the analytical model and estimate the parameters of the discrete choice model using the social performance ratings from MSCI KLD 400 Social Index and financial information from Wharton Research Data Services’ COMPUSTAT dataset. Although the interdependence of discrete entry decisions can pose identification and estimation problems, I provide empirical evidence that the effect of competition on the likelihood of entry into the sustainability market dominates the effect of spillover. Furthermore, this finding is more profound for first time entrants.

Bio: Damla Durak Uşar received the B. S. in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Istanbul Technical University in 2003 and the M.S. in Management (in German) from Marmara University. in 2008. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Business at Özyeğin University under the supervision of Professor Dr. Meltem Denizel and Assistant Professor Dr. Mehmet Ali Soytaş.