In recent years, rising frustration among investment managers and retail investors over the plethora of competing ESG reporting standards and rating agencies has led to calls for standardizing the mandatory disclosures of ESG information. While in theory having a universal ESG reporting framework—similar to what we have for financial reporting—would ▸
This paper addresses the question of whether regulation-imposed environmental, sustainability, and governance (ESG) mandates affect the principal-agent relationship between shareholders and managers in public companies. In other words, are shareholders affected when a company’s management prioritizes ESG considerations over profit-enhancing decisions? This question is part of a broader corporate governance ▸
An initial public offering (IPO) involves listing a firm’s shares for sale on a stock exchange for the first time (known colloquially as “going public”). This essay analyzes two questions critically. First, does mandatory environmental, sustainable, and governance (ESG) disclosure increase the net costs of going public, so that privately ▸
ESG investing incorporates environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) considerations into investment decisions. Until recently, ESG-themed investing comprised an increasing share of investments made by professional money managers and retail investors.
Financial industry executives and regulators who have promoted ESG-themed investing argue that it will enhance investment performance either by ▸