## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l l l l l} \hline \hline  & **Age** & **ROA** & **ROE** & **CR** & **DebtR** & **SG** & **VAR** & **Region** & **Pop.Den** \\ \hline
**Panel A: Portugal** & & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**Age** & \(1\) & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**ROA** & \(-0.060\) & \(1\) & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**CR** & \(-0.093\) & \(0.043\) & \(0.021\) & \(1\) & & & & & & \\
**DebtR** & \(-0.048\) & \(-0.133\) & \(-0.001\) & \(-0.058\) & \(1\) & & & & \\
**SG** & \(-0.090\) & \(0.00\) & \(0.020\) & \(-0.103\) & \(0.411\)\({}^{***}\) & \(1\) & \(1\) & & \\
**VAR** & \(0.121\) & \(0.709\)\({}^{***}\) & \(0.100\) & \(0.048\) & \(-0.045\)\({}^{***}\) & \(-0.217\)\({}^{**}\) & \(1\) & & \\
**Region** & \(0.111\) & \(-0.279\)\({}^{***}\) & \(-0.014\) & \(-0.191\)\({}^{**}\) & \(0.116\) & \(0.148\) & \(-0.240\)\({}^{***}\) & \(1\) & \\
**Pop.Den** & \(-0.003\) & \(-0.056\) & \(-0.067\) & \(-0.137\) & \(0.119\) & \(0.013\) & \(-0.013\)\({}^{***}\) & \(1\) \\ \hline
**Panel B: Spain** & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**Age** & \(1\) & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**ROA** & \(-0.039\) & \(1\) & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**ROA** & \(-0.021\) & \(0.089\)\({}^{**}\) & \(1\) & & & & & & & \\ \hline
**CR** & \(-0.002\) & \(-0.001\) & \(0.000\) & \(1\) & & & & & & \\ \hline
**DebtR** & \(-0.035\) & \(-0.762\)\({}^{***}\) & \(0.001\) & \(-0.021\) & \(1\) & & & & & \\
**SG** & \(-0.118\)\({}^{***}\) & \(0.026\) & \(0.011\) & \(-0.007\) & \(0.042\) & \(1\) & & & & \\
**VAR** & \(-0.056\) & \(0.066\) & \(0.004\) & \(0.034\) & \(-0.079\)\({}^{**}\) & \(-0.018\) & \(1\) & & & \\
**Region** & \(0.182\)\({}^{***}\) & \(-0.035\) & \(-0.047\) & \(-0.063\) & \(0.034\) & \(0.034\) & \(0.034\) & \(1\) & & \\
**Pop.Den** & \(0.256\)\({}^{***}\) & \(0.037\) & \(0.020\) & \(-0.021\) & \(0.021\) & \(0.129\)\({}^{***}\) & \(-0.025\) & \(0.458\)\({}^{***}\) & \(1\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* ROA: return on assets; ROE: return on equity; CR: current ratio; debt debt ratio; SG: sales growth; VAR: value-added ratio; Pop.Den: population density; Regions in Portugal: 1—North, 2—Center, 3—Lisbon, 4—Alentejø, 5—Algaryve, 6—Azores, 7—Madeira; Regions in Spain: 1—Andalusia; 2—Argon; 3—Astraías; 4—Balearic Islands; 5—Canary Islands; 6—Canatbria; 7—Castilla y Léon; 8—Castilla-La Mancha; 9—Catalonia; 10—Valencian community; 11—Extremadura; 12—Galicia; 13—La Rioja; 14—Madrid; 15—Murcia; 16—Navarra; 17—Basque country. SME: dummy variable, which is 1 if firms have less than 250 employees. \({}^{***}\) Significant at level 1%; \({}^{*}\) significant at level 5%. Source: own analysis in IBM SPSS version 27.  
\end{table} 
Table 5: Correlation matrix. performance influences investors' beliefs about the firm value and the bids these investors are likely to make in equity markets (see, for example, the work of [39]). In fact, a firm's investment in corporate social responsibility (CSR) builds a positive image of caring for social good and imposes additional costs on executives' informed trading, which is widely perceived self-serving [40]. Moreover, there is an inconsistency regarding the future development of sustainability assessment tools. In fact, on the one hand, it is required a more specific assessment performance approach, i.e., more case- and site-specific, and on the other hand, there is a demand for broader tools for differing case circumstances. In addition, there is also the need for more standardized tools that provide more transparent results. Modern society needs to pursue clear goals of sustainability that can be measured by sustainability indicators. Because sustainability indicators are multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary indices, often context-specific, there is no single broad measure of sustainable development. Hence, sustainable indicators' development involves a methodological compromise among consistency, technical feasibility, and data availability [41].