IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/finmgt/v52y2023i1p127-179.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is sustainability rating material to the market?

Author

Listed:
  • Claire Economidou
  • Dimitrios Gounopoulos
  • Dimitrios Konstantios
  • Emmanuel Tsiritakis

Abstract

This study examines whether information about a firm's engagement in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices is material to market participants. Evidence from a sample of 1856 initial public offerings (IPOs) by U.S. companies for the 2007–2018 period robustly documents that firms for which there is available ESG performance information prior to going public exhibit higher underpricing due to a positive market response. Such a reaction is validated by agency cost‐reducing practices that ESG‐rated firms follow prior to the IPO, the superior post‐IPO market performance they exhibit in terms of equity financing, and the higher share of financially sophisticated investors they attract compared to their ESG‐unrated peers. Overall, our results highlight that it pays off to do good and to have the right investors; however, firms’ good ESG practices need to be visible to the market, through rating practices, to reap the benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Claire Economidou & Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Dimitrios Konstantios & Emmanuel Tsiritakis, 2023. "Is sustainability rating material to the market?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 127-179, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:finmgt:v:52:y:2023:i:1:p:127-179
    DOI: 10.1111/fima.12406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/fima.12406
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/fima.12406?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baker, Edward D. & Boulton, Thomas J. & Braga-Alves, Marcus V. & Morey, Matthew R., 2021. "ESG government risk and international IPO underpricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Hertzel, Michael G. & Li, Zhi, 2010. "Behavioral and Rational Explanations of Stock Price Performance around SEOs: Evidence from a Decomposition of Market-to-Book Ratios," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 935-958, August.
    3. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Mishra, Dev R., 2011. "Does corporate social responsibility affect the cost of capital?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2388-2406, September.
    4. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    5. Otgontsetseg Erhemjamts & Qian Li & Anand Venkateswaran, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Firms’ Investment Policy, Organizational Structure, and Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 395-412, December.
    6. Hart, Oliver & Zingales, Luigi, 2017. "Companies Should Maximize Shareholder Welfare Not Market Value," Journal of Law, Finance, and Accounting, now publishers, vol. 2(2), pages 247-275, November.
    7. Megginson, William L & Weiss, Kathleen A, 1991. "Venture Capitalist Certification in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(3), pages 879-903, July.
    8. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    9. Bushee, BJ & Noe, CF, 2000. "Corporate disclosure practices, institutional investors, and stock return volatility," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38, pages 171-202.
    10. Francesca Cornelli & David Goldreich, "undated". "Bookbuilding and Strategic Allocation," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 02-00, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    11. Hall, Brian J. & Murphy, Kevin J., 2002. "Stock options for undiversified executives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-42, February.
    12. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. 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.
    14. Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2009. "Bank governance, regulation and risk taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 259-275, August.
    15. Kim, Woojin & Weisbach, Michael S., 2008. "Motivations for public equity offers: An international perspective," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 281-307, February.
    16. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Value Maximization, Stakeholder Theory, and the Corporate Objective Function," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 32-42, January.
    17. Hart, Oliver D. & Zingales, Luigi, 2017. "Companies Should Maximize Shareholder Welfare Not Market Value," Working Papers 267, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    18. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, René M., 2010. "Seasoned equity offerings, market timing, and the corporate lifecycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 275-295, March.
    19. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    20. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1989. "Management entrenchment : The case of manager-specific investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 123-139, November.
    21. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    22. Marco Pagano & Paolo F. Volpin, 2005. "The Political Economy of Corporate Governance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1005-1030, September.
    23. Hanley, Kathleen Weiss, 1993. "The underpricing of initial public offerings and the partial adjustment phenomenon," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 231-250, October.
    24. Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2014. "How Do Industry Peers Respond to Control Threats?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(2), pages 380-399, February.
    25. Christopher A. Parsons & Johan Sulaeman & Sheridan Titman, 2018. "The Geography of Financial Misconduct," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(5), pages 2087-2137, October.
    26. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    27. Dyck, Alexander & Lins, Karl V. & Roth, Lukas & Wagner, Hannes F., 2019. "Do institutional investors drive corporate social responsibility? International evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 693-714.
    28. 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.
    29. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Fried, Jesse M., 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt81q3136r, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    30. Van de Ven, Wynand P. M. M. & Van Praag, Bernard M. S., 1981. "The demand for deductibles in private health insurance : A probit model with sample selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 229-252, November.
    31. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.
    32. 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.
    33. Samuel M. Hartzmark & Abigail B. Sussman, 2019. "Do Investors Value Sustainability? A Natural Experiment Examining Ranking and Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(6), pages 2789-2837, December.
    34. Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2010. "Individual and Corporate Social Responsibility," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(305), pages 1-19, January.
    35. Lucian Arye Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 71-92, Summer.
    36. Halbritter, Gerhard & Dorfleitner, Gregor, 2015. "The wages of social responsibility — where are they? A critical review of ESG investing," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 25-35.
    37. Ronald W. Masulis & Syed Walid Reza, 2015. "Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 592-636.
    38. Bradley, Daniel J. & Jordan, Bradford D., 2002. "Partial Adjustment to Public Information and IPO Underpricing," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(4), pages 595-616, December.
    39. Adhikari, Binay K. & Agrawal, Anup, 2018. "Peer influence on payout policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 615-637.
    40. Gao, Ning, 2011. "The adverse selection effect of corporate cash reserve: Evidence from acquisitions solely financed by stock," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 789-808, September.
    41. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Weinstein, Mark & Welch, Ivo, 1993. "An empirical investigation of IPO returns and subsequent equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 153-175, October.
    42. Dutordoir, Marie & Strong, Norman C. & Sun, Ping, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility and seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 158-179.
    43. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐de‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 1-33, February.
    44. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjö Koskinen & Chendi Zhang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4451-4469, October.
    45. Feng, Zhi-Yuan & Chen, Carl R. & Tseng, Yen-Jung, 2018. "Do capital markets value corporate social responsibility? Evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 54-74.
    46. 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.
    47. Rock, Kevin, 1986. "Why new issues are underpriced," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 187-212.
    48. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    49. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G. & Ruback, Richard S., 1992. "Does corporate performance improve after mergers?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 135-175, April.
    50. Zhong Zhao, 2004. "Using Matching to Estimate Treatment Effects: Data Requirements, Matching Metrics, and Monte Carlo Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 91-107, February.
    51. Carter, Richard B & Manaster, Steven, 1990. "Initial Public Offerings and Underwriter Reputation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1045-1067, September.
    52. Mark D. Walker & Keven Yost & Jing Zhao, 2016. "Credibility and Multiple SEOs: What Happens When Firms Return to the Capital Market?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(3), pages 675-703, August.
    53. Keller, Punam Anand & Block, Lauren G, 1997. "Vividness Effects: A Resource-Matching Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(3), pages 295-304, December.
    54. 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.
    55. Ritter, Jay R, 1984. "Signaling and the Valuation of Unseasoned New Issues: A Comment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1231-1237, September.
    56. Evgeny Lyandres & Le Sun & Lu Zhang, 2008. "The New Issues Puzzle: Testing the Investment-Based Explanation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(6), pages 2825-2855, November.
    57. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and the cost of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 1-23, April.
    58. Ing-Haw Cheng & Harrison Hong & Kelly Shue, 2013. "Do Managers Do Good with Other People's Money?," NBER Working Papers 19432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    59. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July.
    60. Jay R. Ritter, 2015. "Growth Capital-Backed IPOs," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 481-515, November.
    61. Sascha O. Becker & Andrea Ichino, 2002. "Estimation of average treatment effects based on propensity scores," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 2(4), pages 358-377, November.
    62. Krüger, Philipp, 2015. "Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 304-329.
    63. Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Pham, Hang, 2018. "Financial Expert CEOs and Earnings Management Around Initial Public Offerings," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 102-117.
    64. Walker, Mark D. & Yost, Keven, 2008. "Seasoned equity offerings: What firms say, do, and how the market reacts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 376-386, September.
    65. Tim Loughran & Jay Ritter, 2004. "Why Has IPO Underpricing Changed Over Time?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(3), Fall.
    66. Gerhard Halbritter & Gregor Dorfleitner, 2015. "The wages of social responsibility — where are they? A critical review of ESG investing," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 25-35, September.
    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. de la Fuente, Gabriel & Velasco, Pilar, 2024. "Pretending to be sustainable: Is ESG disparity a symptom?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2).
    2. Wang, Xinyu & Zhao, Jing, 2023. "The green reputation: Corporate culture and environmental reputation risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PA).

    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. 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.
    2. Dutordoir, Marie & Strong, Norman C. & Sun, Ping, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility and seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 158-179.
    3. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    4. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    5. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    6. He Xiao & Jianqun Xi, 2021. "The impact of COVID‐19 on seasoned equity offering: Evidence from China," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 539-572, October.
    7. Li, Chengcheng & Wang, Xiaoqiong, 2022. "Local peer effects of corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Agoraki, Maria-Eleni K. & Giaka, Maria & Konstantios, Dimitrios & Patsika, Victoria, 2023. "Firms’ sustainability, financial performance, and regulatory dynamics: Evidence from European firms," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    9. Kim, Hyun-Dong & Kim, Taeyeon & Kim, Yura & Park, Kwangwoo, 2019. "Do long-term institutional investors promote corporate social responsibility activities?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 256-269.
    10. Liu, Xianda & Hou, Wenxuan & Main, Brian G.M., 2022. "Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Panagiotis Koutroumpis & Yu Zhang, 2022. "CSR and Firm Survival: Evidence from the Climate and Pandemic Crises," Working Papers 935, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    12. Xi, Dan & Wu, Yuze & Wang, Xue & Fu, Zhe, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and excess perks," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Hyeong Joon Kim & Seongjae Mun & Seung Hun Han, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and the alignment of CEO and shareholders wealth: Does a strong alignment induce or restrain CSR?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 720-741, March.
    14. Shu, Pei-Gi & Chiang, Sue-Jane, 2020. "The impact of corporate governance on corporate social performance: Cases from listed firms in Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. 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).
    16. Hasan, Iftekhar & Karavitis, Panagiotis & Kazakis, Pantelis & Leung, Woon Sau, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Shifting," MPRA Paper 91580, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Kallias, Antonios & Kallias, Konstantinos & Tzeremes, Panayiotis G., 2017. "Political money contributions of U.S. IPOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 19-38.
    18. Wang, Shuangshi & Yan, Cheng & Zhao, Yuqian, 2024. "Technological peer pressure and corporate sustainability," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    19. Chowdhury, Rajib & Doukas, John A. & Park, Jong Chool, 2021. "Stakeholder orientation and the value of cash holdings: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    20. Baker, Edward D. & Boulton, Thomas J. & Braga-Alves, Marcus V. & Morey, Matthew R., 2021. "ESG government risk and international IPO underpricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

    More about this item

    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:bla:finmgt:v:52:y:2023:i:1:p:127-179. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fmaaaea.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.