Companies that outperformed their peers environmentally performed better on the stock market by as much as 2%. The Storebrand Scudder Environmental Value Fund selects firms that rank in the top third in environmental performance within their industry sector. The fund grew 51% between 1996 and 1998, and outperformed the comparable Morgan Stanley international World Index by 8% over the same period.

1996 study by ICF Kaiser Consulting Group that looked at 327 S&P 500 firms found that companies could push up their stock price by as much as 5% by improving environmental performance.

All these studies are valuable resources for helping a company...

While there has been much emphasis on legal accountability for unethical behavior, more emphasis should be placed on the positive relationship between ethics and financial performance.
Bibliography

Webley, S. And More, E. Does business ethics pay? Institute of Business Ethics. http://www.ibe.org.uk/DBEPpr.htm

Franco, N.C. (2001, March). Corporate environmental disclosure: Opportunities to harness market forces to improve corporate environmental performance." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.rosefdn.org/images/EPA.Disclosure.Study.pdf