Causal complexity analysis of ESG performance

•Causal complexity analysis for ESG performance by industry based on RBV.•Most industries have multiple causal relationships with multiple antecedents.•Each industry has at least one causal relationship related to RBV. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) have merged into an acronym and core value of firms around the world. Based on the resource-based view (RBV), this research analyzes the causal complexity of ESG performance for TSE and OTC firms in Taiwan. The antecedents (or independent variables) related to RBV are chosen to measure the outcome (or dependent variable) of ESG performance. Fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis is used as the research method to analyze the causal relationships. The empirical results show that most industries have multiple relationships, where each relationship consists of multiple antecedents. This indicates that various causal relationships can lead to high ESG performance in an industry. Furthermore, though industries are different intrinsically, some industries share the same relationship(s). Each industry has at least one relationship related to RBV. Hence, a firm in an industry can choose its favorable relationship to achieve high ESG performance.