Oil shocks and capital structure: Role of ESG across the globe

This study examines the impact of oil-shocks on capital structure and the moderating role of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. Despite extensive research on the adverse effects of oil-shocks, there remains a lack of clarity on mitigating these impacts, particularly concerning different types of oil shocks—demand (ODS), supply (OSS), and risk (ORS). The study fills this gap by employing a sample of 8828 firms across 91 countries, summing up to 63282 firm-year observations. The sample period of the study is 2015–2023. We use trade-off and real options theory to examine how oil shocks affect capital structure. We find that ODS and ORS (OSS) negatively (positively) impact leverage. The analysis reveals that high ESG performance moderates the negative impacts of ODS and ORS while enhancing the positive effects of OSS on leverage. Strong ESG-oriented firms benefit from reduced information asymmetry, high creditworthiness and superior access to finance like sustainable funds, which buffers against oil-shocks. The study suggest managers to integrate robust ESG policies to mitigate the adverse effects of oil shocks on leverage. The study further highlights significant differences in moderating effects of ESG on oil shock-leverage nexus across firms with varying leverage levels, sizes, and market competition intensities. Finally, the study advocates that investors consider the differential impact of oil shocks on various firm profiles, including leverage, size, and firm competitiveness, when making investment decisions and prioritize ESG-oriented firms, as these firms demonstrate greater financial resilience against oil shocks.