IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v71y2024ics0275531924002046.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ESG resilience in conflictual times

Author

Listed:
  • Ricci, Ornella
  • Santilli, Gianluca
  • Scardozzi, Giulia
  • Stentella Lopes, Francesco Saverio

Abstract

Measuring the market reaction to a series of announcements related to gas rationing, we find that stock returns of firms with high ESG scores are less affected than their peers. Negative abnormal returns caused by the escalation of the Russia–Ukraine conflict are significantly less pronounced for firms with high scores in the environmental pillar of their ESG evaluation. This effect is mainly driven by the efficient usage of natural resources and low carbon emissions. This evidence is robust to different asset-pricing model specifications. Our findings suggest that higher environmental commitment makes companies more resilient to geopolitical shocks affecting the market price of fossil resources. Interestingly, the evidence in favour of ESG resilience mainly comes from countries more dependent on energy import.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricci, Ornella & Santilli, Gianluca & Scardozzi, Giulia & Stentella Lopes, Francesco Saverio, 2024. "ESG resilience in conflictual times," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:71:y:2024:i:c:s0275531924002046
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102411
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531924002046
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102411?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. Boungou, Whelsy & Yatié, Alhonita, 2022. "The impact of the Ukraine–Russia war on world stock market returns," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    2. Bofinger, Yannik & Heyden, Kim J. & Rock, Björn, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and market efficiency: Evidence from ESG and misvaluation measures," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    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. Massimo Guidolin & Eliana La Ferrara, 2007. "Diamonds Are Forever, Wars Are Not: Is Conflict Bad for Private Firms?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1978-1993, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Dario Caldara & Matteo Iacoviello, 2022. "Measuring Geopolitical Risk," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(4), pages 1194-1225, April.
    7. Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F Wagner, 2020. "Feverish Stock Price Reactions to COVID-19," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 622-655.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Tan, Yafei & Zhu, Zhaohui, 2022. "The effect of ESG rating events on corporate green innovation in China: The mediating role of financial constraints and managers' environmental awareness," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. Hu, Shiwei & Gong, Di, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty, prudential regulation and bank lending," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 373-378.
    12. Zhang, Xiaoke & Zhao, Xuankai & Qu, Linshan, 2021. "Do green policies catalyze green investment? Evidence from ESG investing developments in China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    13. 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.
    14. 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).
    15. Becchetti, Leonardo & Ciciretti, Rocco & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility, stakeholder risk, and idiosyncratic volatility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 297-309.
    16. Boubaker, Sabri & Goodell, John W. & Pandey, Dharen Kumar & Kumari, Vineeta, 2022. "Heterogeneous impacts of wars on global equity markets: Evidence from the invasion of Ukraine," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    17. Choudhry, Taufiq, 2010. "World War II events and the Dow Jones industrial index," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1022-1031, May.
    18. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    19. Jiang, Wei & Dong, Lingfei & Chen, Yunfei, 2023. "Time-frequency connectedness among traditional/new energy, green finance, and ESG in pre- and post-Russia-Ukraine war periods," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Fiordelisi, Franco & Galloppo, Giuseppe & Lattanzio, Gabriele, 2022. "Where does corporate social capital matter the most? Evidence From the COVID-19 crisis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    21. Fabrizio Ferriani & Filippo Natoli, 2021. "ESG risks in times of Covid-19," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(18), pages 1537-1541, October.
    22. Di Bella, Gabriel & Flanagan, Mark & Foda, Karim & Maslova, Svitlana & Pienkowski, Alex & Stuermer, Martin & Toscani, Frederik, 2024. "Natural gas in Europe: The potential impact of disruptions to supply," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    23. Laura Chiaramonte & Alberto Dreassi & Claudia Girardone & Stefano Piserà, 2022. "Do ESG strategies enhance bank stability during financial turmoil? Evidence from Europe," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(12), pages 1173-1211, August.
    24. Heyden, Kim J. & Heyden, Thomas, 2021. "Market reactions to the arrival and containment of COVID-19: An event study," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    25. Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Aurélien Petit, 2019. "Every Little Helps? ESG News and Stock Market Reaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 543-565, June.
    26. Bax, Karoline & Sahin, Özge & Czado, Claudia & Paterlini, Sandra, 2023. "ESG, risk, and (tail) dependence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    27. Claudia Girardone & Ornella Ricci, 2023. "Emerging Issues in Banking," Review of Corporate Finance, now publishers, vol. 3(3), pages 245-273, July.
    28. Hao Liang & Luc Renneboog, 2017. "On the Foundations of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(2), pages 853-910, April.
    29. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Mansi, Sattar & Wang, He (Helen), 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, institutional environments, and corporate cash holdings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    30. Cornett, Marcia Millon & Erhemjamts, Otgontsetseg & Tehranian, Hassan, 2016. "Greed or good deeds: An examination of the relation between corporate social responsibility and the financial performance of U.S. commercial banks around the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 137-159.
    31. Hudson, Robert & Urquhart, Andrew, 2015. "War and stock markets: The effect of World War Two on the British stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 166-177.
    32. Sitikantha Parida & Zhihong Wang, 2018. "Financial Crisis and Corporate Social Responsible Mutual Fund Flows," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-19, January.
    33. Basnet, Anup & Blomkvist, Magnus & Galariotis, Emilios, 2022. "The role of ESG in the decision to stay or leave the market of an invading country: The case of Russia," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    34. Andreas Kick & Horst Rottmann, 2022. "Sustainable Stocks and the Russian War on Ukraine - An Event Study in Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 9798, CESifo.
    35. Díaz, Violeta & Ibrushi, Denada & Zhao, Jialin, 2021. "Reconsidering systematic factors during the Covid-19 pandemic – The rising importance of ESG," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    36. Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2022. "Sustainable mutual fund performance and flow in the recent years through the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    37. 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).
    38. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    39. Teti, Emanuele & Dallocchio, Maurizio & L'Erario, Giulio, 2023. "The impact of ESG tilting on the performance of stock portfolios in times of crisis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    40. 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.
    41. Akhtar, Shumi & Faff, Robert & Oliver, Barry & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2011. "The power of bad: The negativity bias in Australian consumer sentiment announcements on stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1239-1249, May.
    42. 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.
    43. Benjamin Hübel & Hendrik Scholz, 2020. "Integrating sustainability risks in asset management: the role of ESG exposures and ESG ratings," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 52-69, February.
    44. Charl de Villiers & Jing Jia & Zhongtian Li, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility: A review of empirical research using Thomson Reuters Asset4 data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4523-4568, December.
    45. Panagiota Papadimitri & Fotios Pasiouras & Menelaos Tasiou, 2021. "Do National Differences in Social Capital and Corporate Ethical Behaviour Perceptions Influence the Use of Collateral? Cross-Country Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(4), pages 765-784, September.
    46. Florian Berg & Julian F. Koelbel & Anna Pavlova & Roberto Rigobon, 2022. "ESG Confusion and Stock Returns: Tackling the Problem of Noise," NBER Working Papers 30562, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    47. Breitung, Jörg & Kripfganz, Sebastian & Hayakawa, Kazuhiko, 2022. "Bias-corrected method of moments estimators for dynamic panel data models," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 116-132.
    48. Fiorillo, Paolo & Meles, Antonio & Pellegrino, Luigi Raffaele & Verdoliva, Vincenzo, 2023. "Geopolitical risk and stock liquidity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Eisenkopf, Jana & Juranek, Steffen & Walz, Uwe, 2021. "Responsible investment and stock market shocks: Short-term insurance and persistent outperformance post-crisis?," SAFE Working Paper Series 329, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. 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).
    3. Ferriani, Fabrizio, 2023. "Issuing bonds during the Covid-19 pandemic: Was there an ESG premium?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Danisman, Gamze Ozturk & Tarazi, Amine, 2024. "ESG activity and bank lending during financial crises," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Bai, Min & Ho, Ly, 2022. "Corporate social performance and firm debt levels: Impacts of the covid-19 pandemic and institutional environments," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    6. Nils Engelhardt & Jens Ekkenga & Peter Posch, 2021. "ESG Ratings and Stock Performance during the COVID-19 Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Retail investor trading and ESG pricing in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Staněk Gyönyör, Lucie & Horváth, Matúš, 2024. "Does ESG affect stock market dependence? An empirical exploration of S&P 1200 companies shows the divergent nature of E–S–G pillars," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    9. Silva, Thiago Christiano & Wilhelm, Paulo Victor Berri & Tabak, Benjamin Miranda, 2023. "Trade matters except to war neighbors: The international stock market reaction to 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Huang, Yujun, 2024. "Do ESG ETFs provide downside risk protection during Covid-19? Evidence from forecast combination models," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    11. Dongmin Kong & Jia Liu & Yanan Wang & Ling Zhu, 2024. "Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Corporate Environmental Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(1), pages 177-199, January.
    12. Huang, Chenchen & Luo, Di & Mukherjee, Soumyatanu & Mishra, Tapas, 2022. "To Acquire or to Ally? Managing Partners’ Environmental Risk in International Expansion," MPRA Paper 121808, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 07 Jan 2023.
    13. 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).
    14. Wang, Haijun & Jiao, Shuaipeng & Ge, Chen & Sun, Guanglin, 2024. "Corporate ESG rating divergence and excess stock returns," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    15. Meyer, Julia, 2024. "Willingness to take risks for sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    16. D'Souza, Reagan & Ho, Choy Yeing (Chloe) & Yang, Joey W., 2024. "The cost of corporate social irresponsibility for acquirers," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    17. Trinks, Arjan & Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2020. "An Efficiency Perspective on Carbon Emissions and Financial Performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. 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).
    19. Ved Dilip Beloskar & S. V. D. Nageswara Rao, 2023. "Did ESG Save the Day? Evidence From India During the COVID-19 Crisis," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(1), pages 73-107, March.
    20. Liu, Min & Guo, Tongji & Ping, Weiying & Luo, Liangqing, 2023. "Sustainability and stability: Will ESG investment reduce the return and volatility spillover effects across the Chinese financial market?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ESG; Europe; Gas shocks; Stock returns;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    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:eee:riibaf:v:71:y:2024:i:c:s0275531924002046. 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/ribaf .

    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.