IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v56y2023ics1544612323004439.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The stock price of European insurance companies: What is the role of ESG factors?

Author

Listed:
  • Di Tommaso, Caterina
  • Mazzuca, Maria

Abstract

The study investigates the effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings on the stock price of European insurance companies using the event study methodology. ESG ratings play an important role in the pricing of insurance firms, and an upgrade results in a stock price increase, while a downgrade leads to a decrease. The market is particularly responsive to ESG rating upgrades and downgrades during the Pre-Paris period, suggesting that ESG ratings can have a significant impact on the equilibrium and efficiency of the stock market. ESG factors are important in investment decision-making and in promoting sustainable business practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Tommaso, Caterina & Mazzuca, Maria, 2023. "The stock price of European insurance companies: What is the role of ESG factors?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:56:y:2023:i:c:s1544612323004439
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2023.104071
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612323004439
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2023.104071?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. Marina Brogi & Antonella Cappiello & Valentina Lagasio & Fabrizio Santoboni, 2022. "Determinants of insurance companies' environmental, social, and governance awareness," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1357-1369, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Shanaev, Savva & Ghimire, Binam, 2022. "When ESG meets AAA: The effect of ESG rating changes on stock returns," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    4. Danilo Drago & Concetta Carnevale & Raffaele Gallo, 2019. "Do corporate social responsibility ratings affect credit default swap spreads?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 644-652, May.
    5. Kristin Stechemesser & Jan Endrikat & Nico Grasshoff & Edeltraud Guenther, 2015. "Insurance Companies’ Responses to Climate Change: Adaptation, Dynamic Capabilities and Competitive Advantage," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 40(4), pages 557-584, October.
    6. Florian Berg & Julian F Kölbel & Roberto Rigobon, 2022. "Aggregate Confusion: The Divergence of ESG Ratings [Corporate social responsibility and firm risk: theory and empirical evidence]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1315-1344.
    7. Lin Wang & Ali M Kutan, 2013. "The Impact of Natural Disasters on Stock Markets: Evidence from Japan and the US," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 55(4), pages 672-686, December.
    8. Su, Lujun & Hsu, Maxwell K. & Boostrom, Robert E., 2020. "From recreation to responsibility: Increasing environmentally responsible behavior in tourism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 557-573.
    9. Caterina Di Tommaso & John Thornton, 2020. "Do ESG scores effect bank risk taking and value? Evidence from European banks," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2286-2298, September.
    10. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    11. Susana Ferreira & Berna Karali, 2015. "Do Earthquakes Shake Stock Markets?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, July.
    12. Jakob Thomä & Clare Murray & Vincent Jerosch-Herold & Janina Magdanz, 2021. "Do you manage what you measure? Investor views on the question of climate actions with empirical results from the Swiss pension fund and insurance sector," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 47-61, January.
    13. Galletta, Simona & Mazzù, Sebastiano & Naciti, Valeria, 2022. "A bibliometric analysis of ESG performance in the banking industry: From the current status to future directions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. L. Colquitt & Robert Hoyt & Kathleen McCullough, 2006. "The Impact of Asbestos and Environmental Reserves Increases on Shareholder Wealth," North American Actuarial Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 17-31.
    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. Pandey, Dharen Kumar & Kumari, Vineeta & Palma, Alessia & Goodell, John W., 2024. "Impact of ESG regulation on stock market returns: Investor responses to a reasonable assurance mandate," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    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. 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).
    2. Colak, Gonul & Korkeamäki, Timo P. & Meyer, Niclas Oskar, 2024. "ESG and CEO turnover around the world," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Barros, Victor & Verga Matos, Pedro & Miranda Sarmento, Joaquim & Rino Vieira, Pedro, 2024. "ESG performance and firms’ business and geographical diversification: An empirical approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    4. Di Tommaso, Caterina & Foglia, Matteo & Pacelli, Vincenzo, 2023. "The impact and the contagion effect of natural disasters on sovereign credit risk. An empirical investigation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Valizadeh, Pourya & Karali, Berna & Ferreira, Susana, 2017. "Ripple effects of the 2011 Japan earthquake on international stock markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 556-576.
    6. Rudkin, Wanling & Cai, Charlie X., 2023. "Information content of sustainability index recomposition: A synthetic portfolio approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Giovanni Baldissarro & Maria Elena Bruni & Gianpaolo Iazzolino & Donato Morea & Stefania Veltri, 2024. "Does It Pay Off to Integrate ESG Performance into Bank Investment Portfolio Selection? Empirical Evidence in the European Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Wang, Linyu & Ji, Yifan & Ni, Zhongxin, 2023. "Spillover of stock price crash risk: Do environmental, social and governance (ESG) matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    9. Ferriani, Fabrizio, 2023. "Issuing bonds during the Covid-19 pandemic: Was there an ESG premium?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Cauthorn, Thomas & Dumrose, Maurice & Eckert, Julia & Klein, Christian & Zwergel, Bernhard, 2023. "Rating changes revisited: New evidence on short-term ESG momentum," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Danisman, Gamze Ozturk & Tarazi, Amine, 2024. "ESG activity and bank lending during financial crises," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Malik, Ihtisham A. & Chowdhury, Hasibul & Alam, Md Samsul, 2023. "Equity market response to natural disasters: Does firm's corporate social responsibility make difference?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    13. Leite, Brian J. & Uysal, Vahap B., 2023. "Does ESG matter to investors? ESG scores and the stock price response to new information," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    14. Dunbar, Kwamie & Treku, Daniel & Sarnie, Robert & Hoover, Jack, 2023. "What does ESG risk premia tell us about mutual fund sustainability levels: A difference-in-differences analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    15. Giglio, Stefano & Maggiori, Matteo & Ströbel, Johannes & Tan, Zhenhao & Utkus, Stephen & Xu, Xiao, 2023. "Four Facts about ESG Beliefs and Investor Portfolios," CEPR Discussion Papers 18052, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Marohn, Marcel & Auer, Benjamin R., 2024. "A note on Steuer and Utz’s (2023) multi-objective optimization approach for generating sustainability-efficient fronts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(2), pages 792-797.
    17. Sascha Kolaric, 2024. "The impact of climate litigation and activism on stock prices: the case of oil and gas majors," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(11), pages 3141-3172, November.
    18. Veltri, Stefania & Bruni, Maria Elena & Iazzolino, Gianpaolo & Morea, Donato & Baldissarro, Giovanni, 2023. "Do ESG factors improve utilities corporate efficiency and reduce the risk perceived by credit lending institutions? An empirical analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Agnese, Paolo & De Masi, Francesco & Porretta, Pasqualina & Santoboni, Fabrizio, 2024. "Sustainable or not sustainable pension fund: This is the question. The case of environmental social governance policies in the Italian pension system," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    20. Alessi, Lucia & Ossola, Elisa & Panzica, Roberto, 2023. "When do investors go green? Evidence from a time-varying asset-pricing model," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    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:eee:finlet:v:56:y:2023:i:c:s1544612323004439. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.