IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intfin/v52y2018icp240-261.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental risk management and financial performance in the banking industry: A cross-country comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Finger, Maya
  • Gavious, Ilanit
  • Manos, Ronny

Abstract

The Equator Principles (EP) provide banks with environmental guidelines for project finance. Distinguishing between banks from developed and developing countries, we analyse the effect of EP adoption on performance. Two sets of hypotheses for each sub-sample of banks are developed and tested using comparison analyses, event-study methodology and two-stage selection modelling. We find that in developed (developing) countries, EP adoption is associated with an increase (decrease) in funding activity and in the share of income from interest. These results indicate that EP adoption is a strategic decision for banks in developing countries, and a form of greenwashing in developed countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Finger, Maya & Gavious, Ilanit & Manos, Ronny, 2018. "Environmental risk management and financial performance in the banking industry: A cross-country comparison," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 240-261.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:52:y:2018:i:c:p:240-261
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intfin.2017.09.019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042443117303086
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intfin.2017.09.019?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wu, Meng-Wen & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility in the banking industry: Motives and financial performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3529-3547.
    2. Athanasoglou, Panayiotis P. & Brissimis, Sophocles N. & Delis, Matthaios D., 2008. "Bank-specific, industry-specific and macroeconomic determinants of bank profitability," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 121-136, April.
    3. Geoffrey Heal, 2005. "Corporate Social Responsibility: An Economic and Financial Framework," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 30(3), pages 387-409, July.
    4. Shen, Chung-Hua & Lin, Chih-Yung, 2012. "Why government banks underperform: A political interference view," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 181-202.
    5. José Luis Sánchez & Ladislao Sotorrío, 2007. "The Creation of Value Through Corporate Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(3), pages 335-346, December.
    6. Nada K. Kakabadse & Cecile Rozuel & Linda Lee-Davies, 2005. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder approach: a conceptual review," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(4), pages 277-302.
    7. David P. Baron, 2001. "Private Politics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Integrated Strategy," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 7-45, March.
    8. Elijah Brewer III & George Kaufman & Larry Wall, 2008. "Bank Capital Ratios Across Countries: Why Do They Vary?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 34(2), pages 177-201, December.
    9. Edward J. Riedl & George Serafeim, 2011. "Information Risk and Fair Values: An Examination of Equity Betas," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 1083-1122, September.
    10. Andy Lockett & Jeremy Moon & Wayne Visser, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Management Research: Focus, Nature, Salience and Sources of Influence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 115-136, January.
    11. Scholtens, Bert, 2008. "A note on the interaction between corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 46-55, December.
    12. M. López & Arminda Garcia & Lazaro Rodriguez, 2007. "Sustainable Development and Corporate Performance: A Study Based on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(3), pages 285-300, October.
    13. Renneboog, Luc & Ter Horst, Jenke & Zhang, Chendi, 2008. "Socially responsible investments: Institutional aspects, performance, and investor behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1723-1742, September.
    14. Shen, Chung-Hua, 2002. "Credit Rationing for Bad Companies in Bad Years: Evidence from Bank Loan Transaction Data," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(3), pages 261-278, July.
    15. Abagail McWilliams & Donald S. Siegel & Patrick M. Wright, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 1-18, January.
    16. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    17. Richard Macve & Xiaoli Chen, 2010. "The “equator principles”: a success for voluntary codes?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 890-919, September.
    18. Michael Schröder, 2007. "Is there a Difference? The Performance Characteristics of SRI Equity Indices," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1‐2), pages 331-348, January.
    19. Dima Jamali & Ramez Mirshak, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and Practice in a Developing Country Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 243-262, May.
    20. repec:kap:iaecre:v:13:y:2007:i:3:p:379-388 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    22. Nandy, Monomita & Lodh, Suman, 2012. "Do banks value the eco-friendliness of firms in their corporate lending decision? Some empirical evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 83-93.
    23. Hsiang-Lin Chih & Hsiang-Hsuan Chih & Tzu-Yin Chen, 2010. "On the Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility: International Evidence on the Financial Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 115-135, April.
    24. Maria-Gaia Soana, 2011. "The Relationship Between Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance in the Banking Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 133-148, November.
    25. Gerard Caprio & James Barth & Ross Levine, 2008. "Bank Regulations Are Changing: But For Better or Worse?," Center for Development Economics 2008-04, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    26. Hoje Jo & Yongtae Kim, 2008. "Ethics and Disclosure: A Study of the Financial Performance of Firms in the Seasoned Equity Offerings Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(4), pages 855-878, July.
    27. Bert Scholtens, 2009. "Corporate Social Responsibility in the International Banking Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 159-175, May.
    28. Levine, Ross, 1999. "Law, Finance, and Economic Growth," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 8(1-2), pages 8-35, January.
    29. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2010. "Financial Institutions and Markets across Countries and over Time: The Updated Financial Development and Structure Database," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 77-92, January.
    30. Andrew Ellul & Vijay Yerramilli, 2013. "Stronger Risk Controls, Lower Risk: Evidence from U.S. Bank Holding Companies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(5), pages 1757-1803, October.
    31. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    32. María Ángeles Gil Estallo & Fernando Giner de-la Fuente & Carles Gríful-Miquela, 2007. "The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Limits," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 13(3), pages 379-388, August.
    33. Alexander Kempf & Peer Osthoff, 2008. "SRI Funds: Nomen est Omen," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1276-1294.
    34. Corinna Dögl & Michael Behnam, 2015. "Environmentally Sustainable Development through Stakeholder Engagement in Developed and Emerging Countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 583-600, September.
    35. Robert M. Bushman & Regina Wittenberg‐Moerman, 2012. "The Role of Bank Reputation in “Certifying” Future Performance Implications of Borrowers’ Accounting Numbers," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 883-930, September.
    36. Albert DePrince & William Ford & Pamela Morris, 2011. "Some causes of interstate differences in community bank performance," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 35(1), pages 22-40, January.
    37. Scholtens, Bert & Dam, Lammertjan, 2007. "Banking on the Equator. Are Banks that Adopted the Equator Principles Different from Non-Adopters?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1307-1328, August.
    38. David P. Baron, 2009. "A Positive Theory of Moral Management, Social Pressure, and Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 7-43, March.
    39. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    40. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Meng-Wen & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility in the banking industry: Motives and financial performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3529-3547.
    2. Francesco Gangi & Antonio Meles & Eugenio D'Angelo & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Sustainable development and corporate governance in the financial system: Are environmentally friendly banks less risky?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 529-547, May.
    3. Mario La Torre & Sabrina Leo & Ida Claudia Panetta, 2021. "Banks and environmental, social and governance drivers: Follow the market or the authorities?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1620-1634, November.
    4. Meng-Wen Wu & Chung-Hua Shen & Ting-Hsuan Chen, 2017. "Application of multi-level matching between financial performance and corporate social responsibility in the banking industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 29-63, July.
    5. Ricardo Costa-Climent & Carla Martínez-Climent, 2018. "Sustainable profitability of ethical and conventional banking," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 12(4), December.
    6. Oberndorfer, Ulrich & Schmidt, Peter & Wagner, Marcus & Ziegler, Andreas, 2013. "Does the stock market value the inclusion in a sustainability stock index? An event study analysis for German firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 497-509.
    7. Łukasz Matuszak & Ewa Różańska, 2019. "A Non-Linear and Disaggregated Approach to Studying the Impact of CSR on Accounting Profitability: Evidence from the Polish Banking Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Gangi, Francesco & Meles, Antonio & Monferrà, Stefano & Mustilli, Mario, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility help the survivorship of SMEs and large firms?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    9. Nobahar , Emad & Dehghan Nayeri , Mahmoud & Azar , Adel, 2019. "Sustainability of Iranian Banks: Role of Financial and Non-Financial Determinants," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 14(4), pages 495-524, October.
    10. Moufty, Souad & Clark, Ephraim & Al-Najjar, Basil, 2021. "The different dimensions of sustainability and bank performance: Evidence from the EU and the USA," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    11. Woon Leong Lin & Chin Lee & Siong Hook Law, 2021. "Asymmetric effects of corporate sustainability strategy on value creation among global automotive firms: A dynamic panel quantile regression approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 931-954, February.
    12. María Mar Miralles-Quirós & José Luis Miralles-Quirós & Jesús Redondo Hernández, 2019. "ESG Performance and Shareholder Value Creation in the Banking Industry: International Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Isabel Lourenço & Jeffrey Callen & Manuel Branco & José Curto, 2014. "The Value Relevance of Reputation for Sustainability Leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 17-28, January.
    14. Francesco Gangi & Mario Mustilli & Nicola Varrone & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Banks’ Financial Performance," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(10), pages 42-58, October.
    15. Halit Gonenc & Bert Scholtens, 2019. "Responsibility and Performance Relationship in the Banking Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-49, June.
    16. Kladakis, George & Chen, Lei & Bellos, Sotirios K., 2023. "Ethical bank disclosures and liquidity creation," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Issam Laguir & Rebecca Stekelorum & Lamia Laguir & Raffaele Staglianò, 2021. "Managing corporate social responsibility in the bank sector: A fuzzy and disaggregated approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1324-1334, July.
    18. Shen, Chung-Hua & Wu, Meng-Wen & Chen, Ting-Hsuan & Fang, Hao, 2016. "To engage or not to engage in corporate social responsibility: Empirical evidence from global banking sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 207-225.
    19. Anolick, Nina & Batten, Jonathan A. & Kinateder, Harald & Wagner, Niklas, 2021. "Time for gift giving: Abnormal share repurchase returns and uncertainty," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    20. Elena Platonova & Mehmet Asutay & Rob Dixon & Sabri Mohammad, 2018. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure on Financial Performance: Evidence from the GCC Islamic Banking Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 451-471, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate social responsibility; Cross-country; Environmental risk management; Equator principles; Financial institutions; Financial performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:52:y:2018:i:c:p:240-261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/intfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.