We investigate whether a firm’s social capital, and the trust that it engenders, are viewed favorably by bondholders. Using firms’ environmental and social (E&S) performance to proxy for social capital, we find no...Read more
Can market discipline affect corporate environmental and social (E&S) policies? Using international data on negative news coverage of corporate E&S risks, we show that E&S-conscious investors divest firms with...
Corporate customers are an important stakeholder in global supply chains. We employ several unique international databases to test whether socially responsible corporate customers can infuse similar socially responsible...
We use a unique dataset to examine the link between ESG disclosure and quality through a cross-country comparison of disclosure requirements and stewardship codes. We find a strong relationship between the extent of ESG disclosure and...
Using a sample of S&P 500 firms between 2013 and 2017, we study the impact of ESG rating disagreement on stock returns. We conjecture that for disagreement about environmental ratings, a risk-based explanation induces a positive...
Low-carbon mutual funds allow investors to purchase lower exposure to climate change risk at the cost of lower sectoral diversification. On balance, this proposition proves to be appealing for investors, as seen from the effect on fund...
We draw on new data and theory to examine how private market contracts adapt to serve multiple goals, particularly the social-benefit goals that impact funds add to their financial goals. Counter to the intuition from multitasking...
This paper explores the role of investor stewardship against a background of broader efforts to improve the sustainability of financial markets. Stewardship codes, encouraging institutional investors to act as long-term,...
We introduce a method that identifies climate change exposure from earnings conference calls of 10,158 firms from 34 countries. The method adapts a machine learning keyword discovery algorithm and captures exposures...
This paper examines the effect of board gender diversity on renewable energy consumption. Using a panel of 11,677 firm-year observations from the USA for 2008–2016, we find a positive relationship between board gender diversity and...
This study collates potential economic effects of mandated disclosure and reporting standards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability topics. We first outline key features of CSR reporting. Next, we draw on...
We study investor activism promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) improvements using a proprietary dataset. Targets have a higher market share, analyst coverage, stock returns, and liquidity. The engagements lead to...