In today's investment climate, the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into strategic decision-making is essential, particularly in industry performance analysis. The article employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate and contrast ESG efficiency for a broad variety of industries represented in companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Through adopting three other DEA methods—the Constant Returns to Scale (CCR) model and input- and output-oriented Banker, Charnes, and Cooper (BCC) models—we provide a comprehensive framework to analyze how ESG inputs are allocated across different industries to achieve stock price appreciation. The results have important variations in different sectors. For example, the Technology & Telecom, Financial Services, and Retail & Consumer Goods industries have efficiency scores calculated much higher using the input-oriented BCC approach (INBCC) compared to when the scores are derived from the CCR model. This indicates very efficient management of resources that is masked under the constant return assumption. In contrast, industries like Media and Entertainment have efficiency scores that are high across different models, while others like Aerospace and Defense perform better once, they change their priority to output maximization. The results show that the selection of DEA methodology has a strong impact on efficiency scores and that the impact differs by industry. These findings provide industry-specific benchmarks for corporate practitioners, investors, and policymakers in return for fostering sustainable practices and enhancing portfolio selection strategies.

In developing economies like Nigeria, where government expectations on firms intensify amid underdeveloped institutional frameworks, the performance implications of fiscal obligations and voluntary transparency remain poorly understood. This study investigates whether government expectations influence firm performance and whether non-mandatory disclosure moderates this relationship among 80 listed Nigerian firms from 2011 to 2023. Using panel data regression techniques—specifically fixed and random effects models, the study analyzes how fiscal pressure and voluntary environmental, social, and governance disclosures jointly shape firm performance. The findings reveal that higher government expectations are significantly and negatively associated with firm value, suggesting that increasing tax burdens diminish corporate performance. Contrary to theoretical assumptions, non-mandatory disclosure was also negatively associated with firm performance under fixed effects estimation, indicating that voluntary ESG transparency may be perceived as costly or symbolic rather than performance-enhancing in Nigeria’s capital market context. More critically, the interaction between government expectations and non-mandatory disclosure shows a significant negative moderating effect, implying that the combination of tax pressure and voluntary disclosure jointly exacerbates performance erosion rather than mitigating it. These results suggest that without institutional support, investor maturity, and stakeholder awareness, even well-intentioned disclosures may backfire. The study recommends that firms embed ESG practices into core business strategy rather than treat them as compliance rituals, and that policymakers harmonize tax and disclosure policies to avoid disincentivizing transparency. Investors are encouraged to evaluate the strategic substance behind disclosures rather than their volume alone. Future research should explore sector-specific dynamics, stakeholder interpretations of voluntary disclosures, and cross-country comparisons to uncover when and how ESG transparency translates into sustainable firm value under fiscal constraint.