Understanding trade-offs among sustainability pillars through triangulation

Profit is the primary objective that every company aims to achieve but, in pursuing it, a company can no longer afford to overlook two aspects, i.e., social and environmental, closely connected to the economic dimension. Scholars are trying to understand what link exists among these three aspects. However, to date researchers have achieved inconsistent results regarding the impact of Corporate Social Responibility (CSR) on Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This article aims to explore, through a quantitative analysis, the CSR-CFP relationship, namely, to analyze how CSR actions influence a company's profitability and if the industry is a relevant contingency to consider.