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Corporate ESG Profiles and Banking Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Joel F Houston
  • Hongyu Shan

Abstract

We show that banking relationships promote corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies. Specifically, banks are more likely to grant loans to borrowers with ESG profiles similar to their own and positively influence the borrower’s subsequent ESG performance. Their influence is more pronounced when (1) banks have significantly better ESG ratings than borrowers and (2) borrowers are bank dependent. We exploit M&A among lenders as a source of quasi-exogenous variation in the lender’s ESG standard to alleviate endogeneity concerns. Overall, our study presents the first evidence on the interplay between responsible bank lending and borrowers’ ESG behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel F Houston & Hongyu Shan, 2022. "Corporate ESG Profiles and Banking Relationships," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(7), pages 3373-3417.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:35:y:2022:i:7:p:3373-3417.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhab125
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Janet Gao & Wenting Ma & Qiping Xu, 2023. "Access to Financing and Racial Pay Gap Inside Firms," Working Papers 23-36, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Koji Takahashi & Junnosuke Shino, 2023. "Greenhouse gas emissions and bank lending," BIS Working Papers 1078, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Xiang, Yitian & Cui, Haotian & Bi, Yunxiao, 2023. "The impact and channel effects of banking competition and government intervention on carbon emissions: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Hasan, Iftekhar & Lee, Haekwon & Qiu, Buhui & Saunders, Anthony, 2023. "Climate-related disclosure commitment of the lenders, credit rationing, and borrower environmental performance," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 7/2023, Bank of Finland.
    5. Qian, Kun & Shi, Bingjie & Song, Yunling & Wu, Hao, 2023. "ESG performance and loan contracting in an emerging market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Ling, Aifan & Li, Jinlong & Zhang, Yugui, 2023. "Can firms with higher ESG ratings bear higher bank systemic tail risk spillover?—Evidence from Chinese A-share market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Tamy Al-Binali & Ahmet Faruk Aysan & Hasan Dinçer & Ibrahim Musa Unal & Serhat Yüksel, 2023. "New Horizons in Bank Mergers: A Quantum Spherical Fuzzy Decision-Making Framework for Analyzing Islamic and Conventional Bank Mergers and Enhancing Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-37, May.
    8. Ren, Xiaohang & Zeng, Gudian & Zhao, Yang, 2023. "Digital finance and corporate ESG performance: Empirical evidence from listed companies in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Volker Brühl, 2023. "The Green Asset Ratio (GAR): a new key performance indicator for credit institutions," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(1), pages 57-83, March.
    10. Sirio Aramonte & Frank Packer, 2022. "Information governance in sustainable finance," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 132.
    11. Reon Matemane & Tankiso Moloi & Michael Adelowotan, 2022. "Appraising Executive Compensation ESG-Based Indicators Using Analytical Hierarchical Process and Delphi Techniques," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, October.
    12. Fiordelisi, Franco & Ricci, Ornella & Santilli, Gianluca, 2023. "Environmental engagement and stock price crash risk: Evidence from the European banking industry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    13. Giannetti, Mariassunta & Jasova, Martina & Loumioti, Maria & Mendicino, Caterina, 2023. "“Glossy green” banks: the disconnect between environmental disclosures and lending activities," Working Paper Series 2882, European Central Bank.
    14. Bang, Jeongseok & Ryu, Doojin & Yu, Jinyoung, 2023. "ESG controversies and investor trading behavior in the Korean market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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