IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i13p5388-d1421639.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ESG and Firm Risk: Evidence in Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Tokhir Gaybiddinovich Khorilov

    (School of Business, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea)

  • Jungmu Kim

    (School of Business, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

This study examines the intricate relationship between ESG considerations and risk profiles of firms by presenting a comprehensive analysis of total, systematic, and idiosyncratic risks. Using 7834 firm-year observations from 2011 to 2022 in the Korean market, the findings reveal that ESG engagement effectively reduces total, systematic, and idiosyncratic risks. Especially noteworthy is the fact that the reduction in systematic risk, a discovery associated with ESG engagement in medium-sized firms, remains concealed when examining only the total risk. During the COVID-19 crisis, ESG remained valuable in lowering total and idiosyncratic risks but paradoxically increased systematic risk in certain circumstances. These findings emphasize the risk-mitigating potential of ESG, advocating customized strategies based on firm size. They also underscore the resilience of firms that are dedicated to ESG practices during a crisis. Investors may enhance risk-adjusted returns and mitigate overall portfolio risk by integrating ESG factors into their investment strategies, with the importance of tailoring such strategies emphasized, while governments should develop policies incentivizing ESG engagement and allocating resources for ESG-related initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Tokhir Gaybiddinovich Khorilov & Jungmu Kim, 2024. "ESG and Firm Risk: Evidence in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5388-:d:1421639
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5388/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5388/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    2. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    5. Sucheta Nadkarni & V. K. Narayanan, 2007. "Strategic schemas, strategic flexibility, and firm performance: the moderating role of industry clockspeed," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 243-270, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Goss, Allen & Roberts, Gordon S., 2011. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1794-1810, July.
    8. Ľuboš Pástor & Veronesi Pietro, 2003. "Stock Valuation and Learning about Profitability," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 1749-1789, October.
    9. Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero & Shantanu Banerjee & Isabel María García-Sánchez, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Strategic Shield Against Costs of Earnings Management Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 305-324, January.
    10. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:1749-1790 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Dang, Chongyu & (Frank) Li, Zhichuan & Yang, Chen, 2018. "Measuring firm size in empirical corporate finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 159-176.
    12. Bali, Turan G. & Cakici, Nusret, 2008. "Idiosyncratic Volatility and the Cross Section of Expected Returns," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 29-58, March.
    13. Saurabh Mishra & Sachin Modi, 2013. "Positive and Negative Corporate Social Responsibility, Financial Leverage, and Idiosyncratic Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 431-448, October.
    14. Tarsisius Renald Suganda & Jungmu Kim, 2023. "An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Default Risk: Evidence in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    16. Darren D. Lee & Robert W. Faff & Kim Langfield-Smith, 2009. "Revisiting the Vexing Question: Does Superior Corporate Social Performance Lead to Improved Financial Performance?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 34(1), pages 21-49, June.
    17. Bouslah, Kais & Kryzanowski, Lawrence & M’Zali, Bouchra, 2013. "The impact of the dimensions of social performance on firm risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1258-1273.
    18. Chris Jackson & Jason Lu, 2023. "Revisiting Covid Scarring in Emerging Markets," IMF Working Papers 2023/162, International Monetary Fund.
    19. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:2:p:507-28 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Li Cai & Jinhua Cui & Hoje Jo, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 563-594, December.
    21. Beat Reber & Agnes Gold & Stefan Gold, 2022. "ESG Disclosure and Idiosyncratic Risk in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 867-886, September.
    22. Bhattacharya, Nilabhra & Black, Ervin L. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Larson, Chad R., 2003. "Assessing the relative informativeness and permanence of pro forma earnings and GAAP operating earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 285-319, December.
    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. Luning Tong & Maowei Chen, 2024. "The Impact of Female Director Background on the ESG Performance of Chinese Technology Firms: A Moderating Effect Based on Risk Appetite," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-20, December.

    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. Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel C., 2021. "Does it pay to invest in environmental stocks?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Monica Singhania & Dimple Gupta, 2024. "Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure on firm risk: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3573-3613, July.
    3. Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Kizys, Renatas & Chatziantoniou, Ioannis & Sagitova, Roza, 2020. "Environmental disclosure and idiosyncratic risk in the European manufacturing sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    4. Paola Brighi & Antonio Carlo Francesco Della Bina & Valeria Venturelli, 2022. "Do ESG Investments Mitigate ESG Controversies? Evidence From International Data," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0084, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    5. He, Feng & Liu, Guanchun & Hao, Jing & Li, Youwei, 2023. "CSR performance and firm idiosyncratic risk in a data-rich environment: The role of retail investor attention," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Kais Bouslah & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Bouchra M’Zali, 2018. "Social Performance and Firm Risk: Impact of the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 643-669, May.
    7. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2022. "Salience theory and the cross-section of stock returns: International and further evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 689-725.
    8. Ciciretti, Rocco & Dalò, Ambrogio & Dam, Lammertjan, 2023. "The contributions of betas versus characteristics to the ESG premium," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 104-124.
    9. Meles, Antonio & Salerno, Dario & Sampagnaro, Gabriele & Verdoliva, Vincenzo & Zhang, Jianing, 2023. "The influence of green innovation on default risk: Evidence from Europe," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 692-710.
    10. Faiza Siddiqui & Yusheng Kong & Hyder Ali & Salma Naz, 2024. "Energy-Related Uncertainty and Idiosyncratic Return Volatility: Implications for Sustainable Investment Strategies in Chinese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-39, August.
    11. Fan, Kwok Yuen & Shen, Jianfu & Hui, Eddie C.M. & Cheng, Louis T.W., 2024. "ESG components and equity returns: Evidence from real estate investment trusts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    12. Trinks, Arjan & Ibikunle, Gbenga & Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2017. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity and the Cost of Capital," Research Report 17017-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    13. Min, Byoung-Kyu & Qiu, Buhui & Roh, Tai-Yong, 2022. "What drives the dispersion anomaly?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    14. Lars Kaiser, 2020. "ESG integration: value, growth and momentum," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 32-51, February.
    15. Tarsisius Renald Suganda & Jungmu Kim, 2023. "An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Default Risk: Evidence in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    16. Guo, Hui & Qiu, Buhui, 2014. "Options-implied variance and future stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 93-113.
    17. Son, Nguyen Truong & Nguyen, Nhat Minh, 2019. "Prospect theory value and idiosyncratic volatility: Evidence from the Korean stock market," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 113-122.
    18. Perera, Kasun & Kuruppuarachchi, Duminda & Kumarasinghe, Sriyalatha & Suleman, Muhammad Tahir, 2023. "The impact of carbon disclosure and carbon emissions intensity on firms' idiosyncratic volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    19. Roy, Preeti & Ahmad, Wasim & Sadorsky, Perry & Phani, B.V., 2022. "What do we know about the idiosyncratic risk of clean energy equities?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    20. Boubaker, Sabri & Cellier, Alexis & Manita, Riadh & Saeed, Asif, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce financial distress risk?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 835-851.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5388-:d:1421639. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.