Beyond Profit: Do Mergers and Acquisitions and the Board of Directors Increase the Environmental, Social, and Governance?

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between mergers and acquisitions (M&A), board characteristics, and ESG performance in BRICS companies, considering the moderating role of sectoral sensitivity. The study analyzes 11,402 observations from 2293 BRICS companies, employing Two‐Stage Least Squares (2SLS) to address endogeneity and logistic regression models. M&A shows a positive and significant association with all ESG pillars, reinforcing its contribution to nonfinancial performance. Board characteristics also shape these outcomes: larger and more independent boards enhance environmental and social performance, while CEO duality weakens governance results. The sensitive‐sector dummy is insignificant, indicating that sector classification alone does not raise ESG scores. However, the M&A—sensitive‐sector interaction is positive across environmental models, suggesting that firms strengthen environmental practices after M&A. For social outcomes the interaction is insignificant, and for governance, it is significant only at 10%, revealing weaker effects. This study introduces a novel perspective by integrating M&A activity, board characteristics, and sector sensitivity into a unified analysis of ESG performance. Existing research does not explicitly assess how industry conditions shape the transfer and generation of ESG value through M&A. By comparing firms in sensitive and nonsensitive sectors, this study demonstrates that sector‐specific pressures meaningfully alter the ESG effects of corporate transactions and governance structures. This approach advances the understanding of how organizational decisions interact with contextual factors to produce differentiated ESG outcomes, offering insights unavailable in prior single‐context or noncomparative studies.