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Do environment, social and governance performance impact credit ratings: a study from India

Author

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  • Sonali Bhattacharya
  • Dipasha Sharma

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of environment, social and governance (ESG) disclosure on credit ratings of companies in India. Design/methodology/approach - Firms under study are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 500 and represent almost 93 per cent of the total market capitalization on BSE. This study considers a sample of 122 firms from a population of 500 to examine the relationship between ESG scores and Credit Rating. The scope of this study is confined to those firms listed on the S&P BSE 500 which have made ESG disclosures and were rated by various credit rating agencies like Crisil, ICRA and CARE. Data were sourced from Bloomberg. Ratings were given in ascending order. In the first model, credit rating was used as predicted variable; ESG score as predictor variable and market capitalization, net debt to equity, and total debt to asset as control considering the ordered nature of dependent variable in the study, ordered logistic regression was applied. It was repeated taking individual scores on environment rating, social rating and governance rating as predictors. The authors further segregated the 122 selected firms into large, medium and low capital firms and assessed separate logistic regression models taking credit rating as the predicted variable and overall ESG score as the predictor. Findings - It was found that overall ESG performance and performance of individual components (environment, social and financial variables such as market capitalization, and debt to equity ratio) had significant positive indicators of creditworthiness as measured through credit rating. Governance score had a positive and insignificant relation with credit rating. Market capitalization was observed to have significant direct relationship with credit worthiness. On the other hand, number of independent directors in companies showed significant inverse relationship with creditworthiness. ESG significantly impacted credit rating in the desired direction only for small- and middle-level firms; for large firms which already had higher credit rating, ESG showed no effect. It was also found that credit rating itself determined significantly the extent of overall ESG reporting and disclosure of its components. Originality/value - This is unique study that covers the aspects of ESG reports and its impact on credit rating.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonali Bhattacharya & Dipasha Sharma, 2019. "Do environment, social and governance performance impact credit ratings: a study from India," International Journal of Ethics and Systems, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(3), pages 466-484, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:ijoesp:ijoes-09-2018-0130
    DOI: 10.1108/IJOES-09-2018-0130
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Özge Sahin & Karoline Bax & Claudia Czado & Sandra Paterlini, 2022. "Environmental, Social, Governance scores and the Missing pillar—Why does missing information matter?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1782-1798, September.
    2. Abhishek Behl & P. S. Raghu Kumari & Harnesh Makhija & Dipasha Sharma, 2022. "Exploring the relationship of ESG score and firm value using cross-lagged panel analyses: case of the Indian energy sector," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 313(1), pages 231-256, June.
    3. Khan, Muhammad Arif & Khan, Ashraf & Hassan, M. Kabir & Maraghini, Maria Pia, 2024. "Market response to environmental social and governance performance: A global analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    4. Jinting Zhang & F. Benjamin Zhan & Xiu Wu & Daojun Zhang, 2021. "Partial Correlation Analysis of Association between Subjective Well-Being and Ecological Footprint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Karoline Bax & Giovanni Bonaccolto & Sandra Paterlini, 2023. "Do lower environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rated companies have higher systemic impact? Empirical evidence from Europe and the United States," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1406-1420, May.
    6. Bax, Karoline & Bonaccolto, Giovanni & Paterlini, Sandra, 2024. "Spillovers in Europe: The role of ESG," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. Jaspreet Kaur & Madhu Vij & Ajay Kumar Chauhan, 2023. "Signals influencing corporate credit ratings—a systematic literature review," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 50(1), pages 91-114, March.
    8. Monica Billio & Michele Costola & Iva Hristova & Carmelo Latino & Loriana Pelizzon, 2021. "Inside the ESG ratings: (Dis)agreement and performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1426-1445, September.
    9. Billio, Monica & Costola, Michele & Hristova, Iva & Latino, Carmelo & Pelizzon, Loriana, 2022. "Sustainable finance: A journey toward ESG and climate risk," SAFE Working Paper Series 349, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    10. Bax, Karoline & Sahin, Özge & Czado, Claudia & Paterlini, Sandra, 2023. "ESG, risk, and (tail) dependence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. PoTsang B. Huang & Ching-Chow Yang & Maria Magdalena Wahyuni Inderawati & Ronald Sukwadi, 2022. "Using Modified Delphi Study to Develop Instrument for ESG Implementation: A Case Study at an Indonesian Higher Education Institution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-21, October.
    12. Marcia Sierdovski & Luiz Alberto Pilatti & Priscila Rubbo, 2022. "Organizational Competencies in the Development of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria in the Industrial Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.
    13. Weiping Li & Sihan Chen & Zhuxin Gao & Xiaoqi Chen, 2023. "Assessing the impact of corporate environmental performance on efficiency improvement in labor investment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 5008-5024, November.
    14. Karoline Bax & Ozge Sahin & Claudia Czado & Sandra Paterlini, 2021. "ESG, Risk, and (Tail) Dependence," Papers 2105.07248, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2021.
    15. Luigi Aldieri & Alessandra Amendola & Vincenzo Candila, 2023. "The Impact of ESG Scores on Risk Market Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, April.

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