This study examines the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure, green-certification disclosure, and financial performance among U.S.-listed hospitality and tourism firms, including whether pre-pandemic disclosure predicted resilience during COVID-19. The unbalanced panel comprises 41 firms and 481 firm-years (2014–2025), spanning lodging, gaming resorts, cruises, timeshares, online travel, leisure, and lodging real estate investment trusts. Financial variables were obtained from SEC EDGAR XBRL filings; a nine-item ESG Disclosure Index (EDI) and green-certification disclosure indicator were coded from 10-K text. Two-way fixed-effects models, an intensity difference-in-differences specification, an event study, and cross-sectional shock regressions were estimated. Mean EDI rose from 0.09 to a peak of 0.35. Within firms, EDI showed no statistically significant association with return on assets (β = 0.016, p = .59). Green-certification disclosure was associated with approximately 1.4 percentage points lower return on assets (p = .04), but the estimate was sensitive to alternative specifications. The models did not detect significantly smaller pandemic-era losses or faster recovery among firms with higher pre-pandemic disclosure. These results concern disclosed information rather than verified sustainability outcomes and do not establish that substantive ESG practices lack financial value.
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