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The contributions of betas versus characteristics to the ESG premium

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  • Ciciretti, Rocco
  • Dalò, Ambrogio
  • Dam, Lammertjan

Abstract

Firms that score high on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators exhibit lower expected returns. This negative ESG premium might be driven by the lower risk associated with high ESG scores (betas), or it could signal investors’ preferences for firms with high ESG scores (characteristics). We show that ESG as a characteristic mainly drives the premium. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in the ESG characteristic is associated with a decrease in expected returns of 2.73% annually. In addition, the ESG characteristic explains a higher proportion of the cross-sectional variation in expected returns compared to ESG betas. We further caution for the presence of an ESG bias within the ESG premium that is due to positive realized returns preceding lower long-term expected returns. When correcting our estimates for the ESG bias the decrease in expected returns turns out to be 3.41% on an annual basis. The ESG bias correction, together with a firm-level methodology, can help clarify the mixed findings documented in the literature.

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  • Ciciretti, Rocco & Dalò, Ambrogio & Dam, Lammertjan, 2023. "The contributions of betas versus characteristics to the ESG premium," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 104-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:71:y:2023:i:c:p:104-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2023.01.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Cerqueti, Roy & Ciciretti, Rocco & Dalò, Ambrogio & Nicolosi, Marco, 2021. "ESG investing: A chance to reduce systemic risk," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    2. Liu, Chenxi & Kang, Mengyao, 2024. "Is the cash-returns relationship risk induced?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    3. Dahlström, Petter & Lööf, Hans & Sahamkhadam, Maziar & Stephan, Andreas, 2023. "Science-based emission targets and risk-adjusted portfolio return: An analysis using global SBTi-validated stocks," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 492, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    4. Ni, Yinan & Sun, Yanfei, 2023. "Environmental, social, and governance premium in Chinese stock markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Michele Azzone & Emilio Barucci & Davide Stocco, 2024. "Asset management with an ESG mandate," Papers 2403.11622, arXiv.org.
    6. Becchetti, Leonardo & Ciciretti, Rocco & Dalò, Ambrogio, 2018. "Fishing the Corporate Social Responsibility risk factors," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 25-48.
    7. Roy Cerqueti & Rocco Ciciretti & Ambrogio Dalò & Marco Nicolosi, 2022. "Mitigating Contagion Risk by ESG Investing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    8. Inova Fitri Siregar & Tubagus Ismail & Muhammad Taqi & Nurhayati Soleha, 2024. "Influence of ESG on Sustainability Reporting: Mediation Rule of Green Innovation and Investor Sentiment," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(1), pages 452-463, January.
    9. Mario La Torre & Fabiomassimo Mango & Arturo Cafaro & Sabrina Leo, 2020. "Does the ESG Index Affect Stock Return? Evidence from the Eurostoxx50," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-12, August.
    10. Maria Rodionova & Angi Skhvediani & Tatiana Kudryavtseva, 2022. "ESG as a Booster for Logistics Stock Returns—Evidence from the US Stock Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Socially responsible investment; ESG premium; EIV correction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • C58 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Financial Econometrics

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