IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/lus/reveco/v74y2023i1p1-19n3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Primer on Green Finance: From Wishful Thinking to Marginal Impact

Author

Listed:
  • Krahnen Jan

    (House of Finance, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany)

  • Rocholl Jörg

    (ESMT European School of Management and Technology GmbH, Berlin, Germany)

  • Thum Marcel

    (Faculty of Business and Economics, Business and Economics, Technische Universitat Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany)

Abstract

We raise some critical points against a naïve interpretation of “green finance” products and strategies. These critical insights are the background against which we take a closer look at instruments and policies that might allow green finance to become more impactful. In particular, we focus on the role of a taxonomy and investor activism. We also describe the interaction of government policies with green finance practice – an aspect, which has been mostly neglected in policy debates but needs to be taken into account. Finally, the special case of green government bonds is discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Krahnen Jan & Rocholl Jörg & Thum Marcel, 2023. "A Primer on Green Finance: From Wishful Thinking to Marginal Impact," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 74(1), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:lus:reveco:v:74:y:2023:i:1:p:1-19:n:3
    DOI: 10.1515/roe-2023-0019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/roe-2023-0019
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/roe-2023-0019?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. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2021. "Sustainable investing in equilibrium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 550-571.
    2. Gunnar Friede & Timo Busch & Alexander Bassen, 2015. "ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 210-233, October.
    3. Dirk Schoenmaker, 2021. "Greening monetary policy," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 581-592, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Hendrik Hakenes & Eva Schliephake, 2021. "Responsible Investment and Responsible Consumption," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 134, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    6. Augustin Landier & Stefano Lovo, 2020. "ESG Investing: How to Optimize Impact?," Working Papers hal-02896673, HAL.
    7. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    8. Scholes, Myron S, 1972. "The Market for Securities: Substitution versus Price Pressure and the Effects of Information on Share Prices," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(2), pages 179-211, April.
    9. Sudheer Chava, 2014. "Environmental Externalities and Cost of Capital," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2223-2247, September.
    10. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2022. "Dissecting green returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 403-424.
    11. Wolfgang Buchholz & Todd Sandler, 2021. "Global Public Goods: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 488-545, June.
    12. Opp, Marcus & Oehmke, Martin, 2020. "A theory of socially responsible investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 14351, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Greiner, Sandra & Michaelowa, Axel, 2003. "Defining Investment Additionality for CDM projects--practical approaches," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1007-1015, August.
    14. Lars Hornuf & Gül Yüksel, 2022. "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investments: A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9724, CESifo.
    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. Krahnen, Jan Pieter & Rocholl, Jörg & Thum, Marcel, 2021. "A primer on green finance: From wishful thinking to marginal impact," SAFE White Paper Series 87, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. Ferriani, Fabrizio, 2023. "Issuing bonds during the Covid-19 pandemic: Was there an ESG premium?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Hakenes, Hendrik & Schliephake, Eva, 2022. "Responsible Investment and Responsible Consumption," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264004, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Hendrik Hakenes & Eva Schliephake, 2021. "Responsible Investment and Responsible Consumption," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 134, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    5. Christian Gollier & Sébastien Pouget, 2022. "Investment Strategies and Corporate Behaviour with Socially Responsible Investors: A Theory of Active Ownership," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(356), pages 997-1023, October.
    6. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    7. Opp, Marcus & Oehmke, Martin, 2020. "A theory of socially responsible investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 14351, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Steven D. Baker & Burton Hollifield & Emilio Osambela, 2022. "Asset Prices and Portfolios with Externalities [Pricedetermination in the EU ETS market: theory and econometric analysis with market fundamentals]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1433-1468.
    9. Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Retail investor trading and ESG pricing in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Kim, Daniel & Pouget, Sébastien, 2023. "Do carbon emissions affect the cost of capital? Primary versus secondary corporate bond markets," TSE Working Papers 23-1472, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    12. Inderst, Roman & Opp, Markus, 2022. "Socially optimal sustainability standards with non-consequentialist ("warm glow") investors," SAFE Working Paper Series 346, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    13. Lars Hornuf & Gül Yüksel, 2022. "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investments: A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9724, CESifo.
    14. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2021. "Sustainable investing in equilibrium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 550-571.
    15. Ilaria Piatti & Joel Shapiro & Xuan Wang, 2023. "Sustainable Investing and Public Goods Provision," Working Papers 969, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    16. Barber, Brad M. & Morse, Adair & Yasuda, Ayako, 2021. "Impact investing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(1), pages 162-185.
    17. Lioui, Abraham & Tarelli, Andrea, 2022. "Chasing the ESG factor," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    18. Kabderian Dreyer, Johannes & Sharma, Vivek & Smith, William, 2023. "Warm-glow investment and the underperformance of green stocks," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 546-570.
    19. Bissoondoyal-Bheenick, Emawtee & Brooks, Robert & Do, Hung Xuan, 2023. "ESG and firm performance: The role of size and media channels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    20. Giglio, Stefano & Maggiori, Matteo & Stroebel, Johannes & Tan, Zhenhao & Utkus, Stephen & Xu, Xiao, 2023. "Four Facts About Esg Beliefs And Investor Portfolios," SocArXiv dcb93, Center for Open Science.

    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:lus:reveco:v:74:y:2023:i:1:p:1-19:n:3. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    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.