The present study examines the challenges and trends related to employee ownership (EO) in companies in the energy sector, focusing on renewable energy companies. By investigating its influence on Financial Performance and business risk, the impacts of EO are combined with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) metrics. To conduct this study, 126 companies from the energy sector were included, covering the period from 2012 to 2021. Regarding estimations, we used the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) model and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). However, before the estimations, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, Variance Inflation Factor (VIF), and Hausman test were employed to identify any potential estimation problems that should be avoided in the econometrically estimated models.

The analysis specifically focuses on energy sector companies, capturing the situations of renewable/alternative energy companies (ESB) and employee-owned companies. Overall, market capitalisation and director-held capital in the energy sector positively drove financial performance, while the number of employees had a negative impact. Employee-held capital negatively influenced risk. CSR negatively impacts the risk of companies. For ESB, market capitalisation significantly positively affected financial performance, especially in profit, while sustainability metrics and the number of employees showed divergent and inconsistent effects. In EO companies, profitability proved susceptible to variations, indicating that internal management and capital structure directly and positively affect their financial results. Regarding CSR, solid practices were associated with lower financial risk.