For the first time in over a decade, the majority of executives anticipate resources for every dimension of corporate citizenship— environmental, social, and governance—to increase over the next three years, according to a new study issued by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.

“This year, executives have issued a clear verdict: corporate citizenship delivers real business results,” said Katherine Smith, executive director at the Center for Corporate Citizenship. “The majority of executive respondents are choosing to meet the social and business challenges of our time by thoughtfully integrating corporate citizenship into business strategy—and are meeting objectives such as increasing market share and improving financial performance.”

The majority of executive respondents, across all business types and industries, confirm that corporate citizenship helps them successfully achieve strategic goals, ultimately improving performance.

Emerging issues such as employee health costs and consumer data protection and privacy—issues with immediate and longer-term financial and reputational implications—are recently prioritized issues receiving more attention from executives, but general engagement with stakeholders is also widely expected to receive greater funding.

However, there is a divergence between the issues executives are focused on and those that rank as priorities for consumers, with executives more focused on employee-related issues and consumers more concerned about broader environmental and social issues.