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Stock returns in relation to environmental, social and governance performance: mispricing or compensation for risk?

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  • Manescu, Cristiana

    (Center for Finance, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg)

Abstract

Using detailed data on seven environmental, social and governance (ESG) attributes for a long panel of large publicly traded U.S. rms during July 1992-June 2008, this study nds that only the community indicator has a positive impact on stock returns and furthermore this e ect is due to mispricing. Additionally, we document a changing e ect of employee relations from positive to negative between July 1992- June 2003 and July 2003- June 2008. The positive impact is found to be due to mispricing, but for the negative impact there is some weak evidence that it is compensation for low non-sustainability risk. A negative impact of human rights and product safety indicators on stock returns in the more recent period has also been found to be due to mispricing. The implications of this study are that certain ESG issues (employee relations in particular) could be priced as risk factors as soon as there is higher information availability for those ESG attributes.

Suggested Citation

  • Manescu, Cristiana, 2009. "Stock returns in relation to environmental, social and governance performance: mispricing or compensation for risk?," Working Papers in Economics 376, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, revised 01 Mar 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0376
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    Cited by:

    1. Ramzi Benkraiem & Sabri Boubaker & Asif Saeed, 2022. "How does corporate social responsibility engagement affect the information content of stock prices?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1266-1289, July.
    2. Hajar Mouatassim Lahmini & Abdelmajid Ibenrissoul, 2017. "Quel effet de la Responsabilité Sociétale de l'Entreprise sur la performance financière d'un opérateur minier/ Approche par l'Analyse Coûts-Bénéfices," Post-Print hal-01746022, HAL.
    3. Cellier, Alexis & Chollet, Pierre, 2016. "The effects of social ratings on firm value," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 656-683.
    4. Shirasu, Yoko & Kawakita, Hidetaka, 2021. "Long-term financial performance of corporate social responsibility," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    5. Khine Kyaw & Steen Thomsen & Sirimon Treepongkaruna, 2022. "Firms' potential for economic sustainability and firm value: The moderating role of blockholders," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 884-901, October.
    6. Hajar Mouatassim Lahmini, 2017. "Quels Avantages Et Couts De La Strategie Rse D’Un Operateur Minier Cote: Proposition D’Une Typologie," Post-Print hal-01609774, HAL.
    7. Besbes Yasmine & Maher Kooli, 2022. "Smart beta ESG disclosure," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(7), pages 567-580, December.
    8. Asif Saeed & Qasim Zureigat, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Trade Credit and Financial Crisis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Zhang, Zhuang & Chizema, Amon & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Zhang, Qingjing, 2022. "Managerial risk-reducing incentives and social and exchange capital," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    11. Priyanka Aggarwal, 2013. "Sustainability Reporting and its Impact on Corporate Financial Performance: A Literature Review," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 4(3), pages 51-59, September.
    12. Crifo, Patricia & Forget, Vanina D. & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2015. "The price of environmental, social and governance practice disclosure: An experiment with professional private equity investors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 168-194.
    13. Gerhard Halbritter & Gregor Dorfleitner, 2015. "The wages of social responsibility — where are they? A critical review of ESG investing," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 25-35, September.
    14. Julian Amon & Margarethe Rammerstorfer & Karl Weinmayer, 2021. "Passive ESG Portfolio Management—The Benchmark Strategy for Socially Responsible Investors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    15. Halbritter, Gerhard & Dorfleitner, Gregor, 2015. "The wages of social responsibility — where are they? A critical review of ESG investing," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 25-35.
    16. 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.
    17. Hajar Mouatassim Lahmini & Abdelmajid Ibenrissoul, 2016. "Y a-t-il un impact de la RSE sur la performance financière de l'entreprise : Etude empirique sur les sociétés marocaines cotées à la bourse de Casablanca," Post-Print hal-01351951, HAL.
    18. Bin Wang & Fangzheng Wang & Xiaofei Kong & Li Liu & Chunlu Liu, 2024. "Environmental, social, and governance disclosure and capital market mispricing," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 2383-2401, May.
    19. Ming-Lang Tseng & Phan Anh Tan & Shiou-Yun Jeng & Chun-Wei Remen Lin & Yeneneh Tamirat Negash & Susilo Nur Aji Cokro Darsono, 2019. "Sustainable Investment: Interrelated among Corporate Governance, Economic Performance and Market Risks Using Investor Preference Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Marco Nicolosi & Stefano Grassi & Elena Stanghellini, 2011. "How to measure Corporate Social Responsibility," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 96/2011, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    21. Muñoz, Fernando, 2016. "Cash flow timing skills of socially responsible mutual fund investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 110-124.
    22. S. Sudha, 2015. "Risk-return and Volatility analysis of Sustainability Index in India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 1329-1342, December.
    23. Adrian (Waikong) Cheung & May Hu & Jörg Schwiebert, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility and dividend policy," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(3), pages 787-816, September.
    24. Julian Amon & Margarethe Rammerstorfer & Karl Weinmayer, 2021. "Environmental Portfolios—Evidence from Screening and Passive Portfolio Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-23, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    responsible investments; risk factor test; market efficiency; four factor model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

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