IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/cfswop/621.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Doing safe by doing good: ESG investing and corporate social responsibility in the U.S. and Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Bannier, Christina E.
  • Bofinger, Yannik
  • Rock, Björn

Abstract

This paper examines the profitability of investing according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in the U.S. and Europe. Based on data from 2003 to 2017, we show that a portfolio long in stocks with the highest ESG scores and short in those with the lowest scores yields a significantly negative abnormal return. Interestingly, this is caused by the strong positive return of firms with the lowest ESG activity. As we find that increasing ESG scores reduce firm risk (particularly downside risk), this hints at an insurance-like character of corporate social responsibility: Firms with low ESG activity need to offer a corresponding risk premium. The perception of ESG as an insurance can be shown to be stronger in more volatile capital markets for U.S. firms, but not for European firms. Socially responsible investment may therefore be of varying attractiveness in different market phases.

Suggested Citation

  • Bannier, Christina E. & Bofinger, Yannik & Rock, Björn, 2019. "Doing safe by doing good: ESG investing and corporate social responsibility in the U.S. and Europe," CFS Working Paper Series 621, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cfswop:621
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/200161/1/1668853329.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olga Hawn & Ioannis Ioannou, 2016. "Mind the gap: The interplay between external and internal actions in the case of corporate social responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(13), pages 2569-2588, December.
    2. Arno Riedl & Paul Smeets, 2017. "Why Do Investors Hold Socially Responsible Mutual Funds?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(6), pages 2505-2550, December.
    3. Roberts, Michael R. & Whited, Toni M., 2013. "Endogeneity in Empirical Corporate Finance1," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 493-572, Elsevier.
    4. Kee H. Chung & Stephen W. Pruitt, 1994. "A Simple Approximation of Tobin's q," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), Fall.
    5. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    6. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2013. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Value: The Role of Customer Awareness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(5), pages 1045-1061, May.
    7. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    8. Robert G. Eccles & Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2835-2857, November.
    9. Ravi Jagannathan & Ashwin Ravikumar & Marco Sammon, 2017. "Environmental, Social, and Governance Criteria: Why Investors are Paying Attention," NBER Working Papers 24063, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    11. Lehn, Kenneth & Patro, Sukesh & Zhao, Mengxin, 2007. "Governance indexes and valuation: Which causes which?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 907-928, December.
    12. Hong, Harrison & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2009. "The price of sin: The effects of social norms on markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 15-36, July.
    13. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    14. Fishburn, Peter C, 1977. "Mean-Risk Analysis with Risk Associated with Below-Target Returns," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(2), pages 116-126, March.
    15. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    16. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    17. Luo, H. Arthur & Balvers, Ronald J., 2017. "Social Screens and Systematic Investor Boycott Risk," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 365-399, February.
    18. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 621-640, September.
    19. Mr. John Kiff & Michael Kisser & Miss Liliana B Schumacher, 2013. "Rating Through-the-Cycle: What does the Concept Imply for Rating Stability and Accuracy?," IMF Working Papers 2013/064, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Noel Capon & John U. Farley & Scott Hoenig, 1990. "Determinants of Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(10), pages 1143-1159, October.
    21. Kempf, Alexander & Osthoff, Peer, 2007. "The effect of socially responsible investing on portfolio performance," CFR Working Papers 06-10, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    22. Bawa, Vijay S., 1975. "Optimal rules for ordering uncertain prospects," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 95-121, March.
    23. Klock, Mark S. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Maxwell, William F., 2005. "Does Corporate Governance Matter to Bondholders?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 693-719, December.
    24. Titman, Sheridan & Wessels, Roberto, 1988. " The Determinants of Capital Structure Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(1), pages 1-19, March.
    25. Kurt A. Desender & Mircea Epure, 2015. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Performance: The Influence of Boards, Ownership and Institutions," Working Papers 730, Barcelona School of Economics.
    26. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    27. Nofsinger, John & Varma, Abhishek, 2014. "Socially responsible funds and market crises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 180-193.
    28. Alexander Kempf & Peer Osthoff, 2007. "The Effect of Socially Responsible Investing on Portfolio Performance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 13(5), pages 908-922, November.
    29. Dolf Diemont & Kyle Moore & Aloy Soppe, 2016. "The Downside of Being Responsible: Corporate Social Responsibility and Tail Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 213-229, August.
    30. Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2012. "Does CSR Reduce Firm Risk? Evidence from Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 441-456, November.
    31. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ni, Yinan & Sun, Yanfei, 2023. "Environmental, social, and governance premium in Chinese stock markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    2. Renato Camodeca & Alex Almici, 2021. "Digital Transformation and Convergence toward the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainability Development Goals: Evidence from Italian Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Malgorzata Janicka & Artur Sajnog, 2021. "The European Union’s Environmental Policy and Long-Term Investments of Enterprises," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4B), pages 335-355.
    4. Schlütter, Sebastian & Fianu, Emmanuel Senyo & Gründl, Helmut, 2022. "Responsible investments in life insurers' optimal portfolios under solvency constraints," ICIR Working Paper Series 45/22, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).
    5. Mariusz Zieliński & Małgorzata Adamska, 2022. "ESG Assessment from the Perspective of the Management Board and Trade Unions on the Example of the Opole Power Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-21, October.
    6. Emilia Di Lorenzo & Marilena Sibillo, 2020. "Economic Paradigms and Corporate Culture after the Great COVID-19 Pandemic: Towards a New Role of Welfare Organisations and Insurers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Liebich, Lena & Nöh, Lukas & Rutkowski, Felix & Schwarz, Milena, 2020. "Current developments in green finance," Working Papers 05/2020, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
    8. Małgorzata Janicka & Artur Sajnóg, 2022. "The ESG Reporting of EU Public Companies—Does the Company’s Capitalisation Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, April.

    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. Nofsinger, John R. & Sulaeman, Johan & Varma, Abhishek, 2019. "Institutional investors and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 700-725.
    2. Hooi Hooi Lean & Fabio Pizzutilo, 2021. "Performances and risk of socially responsible investments across regions during crisis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3556-3568, July.
    3. Alice Monti & Pierpaolo Pattitoni & Barbara Petracci & Otto Randl, 2022. "Does corporate social responsibility impact equity risk? International evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 825-855, October.
    4. Christina E. Bannier & Yannik Bofinger & Björn Rock, 2023. "The risk-return tradeoff: are sustainable investors compensated adequately?," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(3), pages 165-172, May.
    5. Olaf Stotz, 2021. "Expected and realized returns on stocks with high- and low-ESG exposure," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(2), pages 133-150, March.
    6. Hui-Ju Tsai & Yangru Wu, 2022. "Changes in Corporate Social Responsibility and Stock Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 735-755, July.
    7. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2021. "Sustainable investing in equilibrium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 550-571.
    8. Bofinger, Yannik & Heyden, Kim J. & Rock, Björn, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and market efficiency: Evidence from ESG and misvaluation measures," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    9. Jun Duanmu & Qiping Huang & Yongjia Li & Garrett A. McBrayer, 2021. "Can hedge funds benefit from corporate social responsibility investment?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(2), pages 251-278, May.
    10. Fafaliou, Irene & Giaka, Maria & Konstantios, Dimitrios & Polemis, Michael, 2022. "Firms’ ESG reputational risk and market longevity: A firm-level analysis for the United States," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 161-177.
    11. Dumitrescu, Ariadna & Järvinen, Jesse & Zakriya, Mohammed, 2023. "Hidden Gem or Fool’s Gold: Can passive ESG ETFs outperform the benchmarks?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. Gao, Ya & Xiong, Xiong & Feng, Xu, 2020. "Responsible investment in the Chinese stock market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    13. Fafaliou, Irene & Giaka, Maria & Konstantios, Dimitrios & Polemis, Michael, 2020. "Firms’ Sustainability Performance and Market Longevity," MPRA Paper 101445, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Lars Hornuf & Gül Yüksel, 2022. "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investments: A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9724, CESifo.
    15. Ni, Yinan & Sun, Yanfei, 2023. "Environmental, social, and governance premium in Chinese stock markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    16. Patrícia Pereira & Maria Céu Cortez & Florinda Silva, 2019. "Socially responsible investing and the performance of Eurozone corporate bond portfolios," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1407-1422, November.
    17. Dan Daugaard, 2020. "Emerging new themes in environmental, social and governance investing: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1501-1530, June.
    18. Buchanan, Bonnie G. & Cao, Cathy Xuying & Wang, Shuhui, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and inside debt: The long game," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    19. Federica Ielasi & Monica Rossolini, 2019. "Responsible or Thematic? The True Nature of Sustainability-Themed Mutual Funds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Benjamin R. Auer, 2016. "Do Socially Responsible Investment Policies Add or Destroy European Stock Portfolio Value?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 381-397, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ESG; corporate social responsibility; sustainability; downside risk; insurance; Fama-French model; dynamic panel GMM estimation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:cfswop:621. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifkcfde.html .

    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.