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Do Baltic investors care about environmental, social and governance (ESG)?

Author

Listed:
  • Ilze Zumente

    (Riga Technical University, Latvia)

  • Jūlija Bistrova

    (Riga Technical University, Latvia)

Abstract

As the environmental, social and governance (ESG) adoption practices in large and developed economies are becoming more sophisticated, in the still developing economies the non-financial information disclosure practices are gradually evolving. This article aims to capture the ESG implementation practices and challenges of the financial investors and banks operating in the Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. By analyzing survey data of 37 financial market players, the results reveal that around 81% of the respondents already use ESG data when evaluating their investments, which can partly be explained by the regulatory drivers coming from the large share of private equity and venture funds managing local and international public funding. Moreover, a substantial average weight of 0.39 is found to be attributed to the sustainability factors in the investment evaluation process, which is rather high given the general perception of the ESG being a recent addition to the investment evaluation tools. While 51% of the respondents admitted that Covid-19 pandemic has made no changes in their ESG practices, there are other common challenges named by the investors e.g. lack of general and quantifiable ESG data from the side of the companies and struggles to find matching benchmarks for the large share of the small and mid-sized companies dominating the Baltic investment market. By addressing the obstacles highlighted by this research, the policy makers can explore the ways how to foster a wider adoption of ESG policies in the Baltic investment universe.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilze Zumente & Jūlija Bistrova, 2021. "Do Baltic investors care about environmental, social and governance (ESG)?," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(4), pages 349-362, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssi:jouesi:v:8:y:2021:i:4:p:349-362
    DOI: 10.9770/jesi.2021.8.4(20)
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Emiel Duuren & Auke Plantinga & Bert Scholtens, 2016. "ESG Integration and the Investment Management Process: Fundamental Investing Reinvented," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 525-533, October.
    2. Broadstock, David C. & Chan, Kalok & Cheng, Louis T.W. & Wang, Xiaowei, 2021. "The role of ESG performance during times of financial crisis: Evidence from COVID-19 in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    3. Aaron K. Chatterji & Rodolphe Durand & David I. Levine & Samuel Touboul, 2016. "Do ratings of firms converge? Implications for managers, investors and strategy researchers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1597-1614, August.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ilze Zumente & Nataļja Lāce, 2021. "ESG Rating—Necessity for the Investor or the Company?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Riccardo Savio & Edoardo D’Andrassi & Francesca Ventimiglia, 2023. "A Systematic Literature Review on ESG during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Muhammad Jawad & Munazza Naz & Sohail Rizwan, 2023. "Leadership support, innovative work behavior, employee work engagement, and corporate reputation: Examining the effect of female in not government organizations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 708-719, March.
    5. Mehmed Ganic, 2022. "Does Institutional Quality Matter for the IDP Hypothesis? Evidence from Emerging Europe," Croatian Economic Survey, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb, vol. 24(1), pages 83-113, June.
    6. Obey Dzomonda, 2022. "Environmental Sustainability Commitment and Access to Finance by Small and Medium Enterprises: The Role of Financial Performance and Corporate Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Khaled Khalaf Alafi, 2023. "The Impact of ESG on Strategic Success in Jordanian Islamic Banks," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental; Social and Governance (ESG); financial investors; sustainability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • 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

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