Does sustainability index matter to the hospitality industry?

Employing the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI) as a proxy for a firm's socially responsible investments, this research analyzes whether DJSI generates short- and long-run impacts on hospitality firms' financial values. Results indicate that due to characteristics intrinsic to the hospitality industry, hospitality firms' financial performance is more sensitive to addition or deletion events, as compared with the performance of non-hospitality firms, whether measured over the short run or long run. In addition, some firm features, including size, Tobin's Q, and institutional ownership, might also intensify the abnormal returns of firms. The findings would throw some light on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) literature and pave the way to develop new socially responsible investment strategies and ESG-oriented practices that help consolidate tourism-related firms' financial performance and positively benefit society. •This research analyzes whether inclusion on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index affects firms' financial values.•Hospitality firms' financial performance is more sensitive to addition or deletion events than that of other firms.•Addition events seem to have a less positive effect on non-hospitality firms.•Some firm features might further intensify the abnormal returns of firms.