Management systems standards and shareholder wealth: unveiling the role of multiple certifications

Grounded on the shareholder theory, this study aims to relate the effects of management systems standards (MSSs) ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and/or ISO 45001 on firm financial performance (FFP) in terms of return on equity (ROE) and dividend per share yield (DY). With a balanced data sample between 2010 and 2019 composed of more than 10,000 observations, this paper performs a two-step system generalised-method-of-moments model to find a causal relationship between single, double and triple certifications, and ROE and DY. The results find no impact of single certifications on FFP. However, double certifications that include ISO 9001 promote ROE. Furthermore, all multiple certifications are found to promote DY. It is then argued that operating with multiple MSSs promotes shareholder wealth. Thus, this research adds to the continuing academic discourse on the connection between MSS certifications and FFP by presenting findings from a worldwide longitudinal dataset. Additionally, it adopts a shareholder-focused perspective and introduces DY as a relevant FFP metric in this line of research.