IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finsta/v71y2024ics1572308924000056.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Isolating defensive corporate ESG effects: Evidence from purely domestic anti-COVID-19 measures

Author

Listed:
  • Goodell, John W.
  • Corbet, Shaen
  • Hou, Yang (Greg)
  • Hu, Yang
  • Oxley, Les

Abstract

Few studies investigate whether ESG mitigates the harmful effects of changes in firms’ external environments. We evidence that ESG mitigated the impact of COVID-19 work-from-home and workplace prescriptions amongst several other pandemic-related government regulatory interventions, even when controlling for firm size. In a novel approach, we apply scrutiny of firms to restrict our cross-national sample to only firms with no cross-border trade, that is, explicitly domestically focused operational processes irrespective of the endpoint of corporate sales, enhancing methodological robustness. Consequently, we isolate an ESG effect. Results indicate the existence of a premium during the onset of each analysed national pandemic experience, particularly pronounced for those corporations that had achieved more substantiative ESG-based preparation and development before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Goodell, John W. & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2024. "Isolating defensive corporate ESG effects: Evidence from purely domestic anti-COVID-19 measures," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finsta:v:71:y:2024:i:c:s1572308924000056
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfs.2024.101220
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1572308924000056
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfs.2024.101220?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. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2020. "The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on asset-price discovery: Testing the case of Chinese informational asymmetry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Hodgson, Allan & Pathan, Shams, 2020. "Do external labour market incentives constrain bad news hoarding? The CEO's industry tournament and crash risk reduction," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Harper Ho Virginia, 2020. "Non-Financial Reporting & Corporate Governance: Explaining American Divergence & Its Implications for Disclosure Reform," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-29, July.
    4. Roncoroni, Alan & Battiston, Stefano & Escobar-Farfán, Luis O.L. & Martinez-Jaramillo, Serafin, 2021. "Climate risk and financial stability in the network of banks and investment funds," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    5. Oliver Hart & John Moore, 1999. "Foundations of Incomplete Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(1), pages 115-138.
    6. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2021. "An analysis of investor behaviour and information flows surrounding the negative WTI oil price futures event," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    7. Jin, Li & Myers, Stewart C., 2006. "R2 around the world: New theory and new tests," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 257-292, February.
    8. Bae, Kee-Hong & El Ghoul, Sadok & Gong, Zhaoran (Jason) & Guedhami, Omrane, 2021. "Does CSR matter in times of crisis? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    9. Salisu, Afees A. & Vo, Xuan Vinh & Lucey, Brian, 2021. "Gold and US sectoral stocks during COVID-19 pandemic," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    10. 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).
    11. Ozik, Gideon & Sadka, Ronnie & Shen, Siyi, 2021. "Flattening the Illiquidity Curve: Retail Trading During the COVID-19 Lockdown," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(7), pages 2356-2388, November.
    12. Zaremba, Adam & Kizys, Renatas & Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Aharon, David Y. & Demir, Ender, 2021. "The quest for multidimensional financial immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from international stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Cioroianu, Iulia & Corbet, Shaen & Larkin, Charles, 2021. "The differential impact of corporate blockchain-development as conditioned by sentiment and financial desperation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Ahonen, Elena & Corbet, Shaen & Goodell, John W. & Günay, Samet & Larkin, Charles, 2022. "Are carbon futures prices stable? New evidence during negative oil," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    15. Liao, Jianhui & Zhu, Xuehong & Chen, Jinyu, 2021. "Dynamic spillovers across oil, gold and stock markets in the presence of major public health emergencies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    16. Jiang, Fuxiu & Cai, Xinni & Nofsinger, John R. & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2020. "Can reputation concern restrain bad news hoarding in family firms?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    17. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1027-1047, September.
    18. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2022. "The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hedging functionality of Chinese financial markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    19. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    20. Umar, Zaghum & Gubareva, Mariya & Tran, Dang Khoa & Teplova, Tamara, 2021. "Impact of the Covid-19 induced panic on the Environmental, Social and Governance leaders equity volatility: A time-frequency analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    21. Dumitrescu, Ariadna & Zakriya, Mohammed, 2021. "Stakeholders and the stock price crash risk: What matters in corporate social performance?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    22. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Li, Yinghua & Zhang, Liandong, 2011. "Corporate tax avoidance and stock price crash risk: Firm-level analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 639-662, June.
    23. Hutton, Amy P. & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 67-86, October.
    24. Goodell, John W., 2020. "COVID-19 and finance: Agendas for future research," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    25. Carnevale, Joel B. & Hatak, Isabella, 2020. "Employee adjustment and well-being in the era of COVID-19: Implications for human resource management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 183-187.
    26. 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).
    27. Nirino, Niccolò & Santoro, Gabriele & Miglietta, Nicola & Quaglia, Roberto, 2021. "Corporate controversies and company's financial performance: Exploring the moderating role of ESG practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    28. He, Feng & Qin, Shuqi & Liu, Yuanyuan & Wu, Ji (George), 2022. "CSR and idiosyncratic risk: Evidence from ESG information disclosure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    29. Liu, Ya & Qiu, Buhui & Wang, Teng, 2021. "Debt rollover risk, credit default swap spread and stock returns: Evidence from the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    30. Shaen Corbet & Yang (Greg) Hou & Yang Hu & Les Oxley, 2022. "Financial contagion among COVID-19 concept-related stocks in China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(21), pages 2439-2452, May.
    31. Greg Filbeck & Eric Robbins & Xin Zhao, 2022. "Social capital during the coronavirus pandemic: the value of corporate benevolence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(13), pages 1460-1472, March.
    32. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2021. "Volatility spillovers during market supply shocks: The case of negative oil prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    33. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Larkin, Charles & Oxley, Les, 2020. "Any port in a storm: Cryptocurrency safe-havens during the COVID-19 pandemic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    34. Harper Ho Virginia, 2020. "Non-Financial Reporting & Corporate Governance: Explaining American Divergence & Its Implications for Disclosure Reform," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-29, July.
    35. Lang, Mark & Maffett, Mark, 2011. "Transparency and liquidity uncertainty in crisis periods," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 101-125.
    36. An, Heng & Zhang, Ting, 2013. "Stock price synchronicity, crash risk, and institutional investors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 1-15.
    37. Takahashi, Hidenori & Yamada, Kazuo, 2021. "When the Japanese stock market meets COVID-19: Impact of ownership, China and US exposure, and ESG channels," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    38. Ni, Xiaoran & Wang, Ye & Yin, David, 2021. "Does Modern Information Technology Attenuate Managerial Information Hoarding? Evidence from the EDGAR Implementation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    39. Wei, Xiaoyun & Han, Liyan, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on transmission of monetary policy to financial markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    40. Duan, Yuejiao & Liu, Lanbiao & Wang, Zhuo, 2021. "COVID-19 Sentiment and the Chinese Stock Market: Evidence from the Official News Media and Sina Weibo," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    41. Alessi, Lucia & Ossola, Elisa & Panzica, Roberto, 2021. "What greenium matters in the stock market? The role of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental disclosures," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    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. Zhang, Cong & Farooq, Umar & Jamali, Dima & Alam, Mohammad Mahtab, 2024. "The role of ESG performance in the nexus between economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    2. Li, Yiping & Zheng, Lanxing & Xie, Chang & Fang, Jiming, 2024. "Big data development and enterprise ESG performance: Empirical evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 742-755.

    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. Lang, Chunlin & Hu, Yang & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg), 2024. "Tail risk connectedness in G7 stock markets: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 and related variants," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    2. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2022. "The growth of oil futures in China: Evidence of market maturity through global crises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Goodell, John W. & Corbet, Shaen & Yadav, Miklesh Prasad & Kumar, Satish & Sharma, Sudhi & Malik, Kunjana, 2022. "Time and frequency connectedness of green equity indices: Uncovering a socially important link to Bitcoin," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Kyriazis, Nikolaos & Papadamou, Stephanos & Tzeremes, Panayiotis & Corbet, Shaen, 2023. "Can cryptocurrencies provide a viable hedging mechanism for benchmark index investors?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. 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).
    6. Hu, Yang & Lang, Chunlin & Corbet, Shaen & Wang, Junchuan, 2024. "The impact of COVID-19 on the volatility connectedness of the Chinese tourism sector," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Yu, Haixu & Liang, Chuanyu & Liu, Zhaohua & Wang, He, 2023. "News-based ESG sentiment and stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Hossain, Ashrafee T. & Masum, Abdullah-Al & Xu, Jian, 2023. "COVID-19, a blessing in disguise for the Tech sector: Evidence from stock price crash risk," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Peng‐Fei Dai & John W. Goodell & Luu Duc Toan Huynh & Zhifeng Liu & Shaen Corbet, 2023. "Understanding the transmission of crash risk between cryptocurrency and equity markets," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 539-573, August.
    10. Ahonen, Elena & Corbet, Shaen & Goodell, John W. & Günay, Samet & Larkin, Charles, 2022. "Are carbon futures prices stable? New evidence during negative oil," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    11. Zhang, Junru & Zheng, Chen & Shan, Yuan George, 2024. "What accounts for the effect of sustainability engagement on stock price crash risk during the COVID-19 pandemic—Agency theory or legitimacy theory?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Hu, Yang & Lang, Chunlin & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Oxley, Les, 2023. "Exploring the dynamic behaviour of commodity market tail risk connectedness during the negative WTI pricing event," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    13. Shi, Lisi & Ho, Kung-Cheng & Liu, Ming-Yu, 2023. "Does societal trust make managers more trustworthy?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Cioroianu, Iulia & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Larkin, Charles & Taffler, Richard, 2024. "Exploring the use of emotional sentiment to understanding market response to unexpected corporate pivots," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    15. Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Chowdhury, Hasibul & Han, Hien Duc, 2021. "CEO centrality and stock price crash risk," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    16. Ryan Flugum & Svetlana Orlova & Andrew Prevost & Li Sun, 2021. "Distracted institutions, information asymmetry and stock price stability," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 2015-2048, October.
    17. Ma, Rui & Guo, Fei & Li, Dongdong, 2024. "Can public data availability affect stock price crash risk? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    18. Xu, Lingling & Huang, Xiaodi & Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Yuanyuan, 2023. "Tax authority enforcement and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    19. Cao, Hung & Phan, Hieu V. & Silveri, Sabatino, 2024. "Data breach disclosures and stock price crash risk: Evidence from data breach notification laws," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    20. Tang, Mengxuan & Hu, Yang & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Oxley, Les, 2024. "Fintech, bank diversification and liquidity: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).

    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:finsta:v:71:y:2024:i:c:s1572308924000056. 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/jfstabil .

    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.