RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Bank debt signalling and corporate sustainability: Does incongruence blur the message? A1 Fuente Herrero, Gabriel de la A1 Velasco González, María Del Pilar K1 Bank debt K1 Deuda bancaria K1 Corporate sustainability K1 Sostenibilidad corporativa AB This paper examines the interplay between the signalling function of bank debt and other indicators which might reveal incongruence among a firm's actions and question the sincerity of its sustainability engagement. Empirical evidence on a sample of U.S. companies reveals that the presence of bank debt in a firm's leverage improves the performance of sustainability. This beneficial effect of bank debt is greater for the environmental pillar. However, bank debt signalling weakens (or even disappears) in the presence of other indicators that express incongruence, such as a low uniformity in the commitment across sustainability pillars and belonging to a culpable industry. Overall, this study highlights the importance of harmonizing the signal set so that it has an impact on firm value. PB Elsevier SN 1544-6123 YR 2021 FD 2021 LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/48135 UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/48135 LA eng NO Finance Research Letters, 2021, In Press, 102288 NO Producción Científica DS UVaDOC RD 18-sep-2024