Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?

Sustainable investing allocates investments based on environmental, social and governance factors (ESG). The societal value of sustainable investment is becoming progressively relevant as investors are increasingly recognizing the importance of investing in companies that seek to combat climate chan...

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Main Authors: Niranjan Chipalkatti, Quan Vu Le, Meenakshi Rishi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6039
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author Niranjan Chipalkatti
Quan Vu Le
Meenakshi Rishi
author_facet Niranjan Chipalkatti
Quan Vu Le
Meenakshi Rishi
author_sort Niranjan Chipalkatti
collection DOAJ
description Sustainable investing allocates investments based on environmental, social and governance factors (ESG). The societal value of sustainable investment is becoming progressively relevant as investors are increasingly recognizing the importance of investing in companies that seek to combat climate change, environmental destruction, while promoting corporate responsibility. Environmental policy and sustainable growth initiatives at a country-level are also being influenced by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Situated within the current trend of declining foreign direct investment flows (FDI), our study examines the role of ESG factors in attracting FDI and enabling progress toward SDGs. We econometrically examine the linkages between ESG and FDI inflows for a sample of 161 counties. We also focus on low- and middle-income emerging economies and low- and middle-income commodity exporters as these countries face unique challenges of mobilizing financing to achieve SDGs and generating sustainable economic growth. Results suggest that FDI inflows to the full sample of countries are positively attracted by good governance in a destination country. We observe that good scores on HDI deters FDI, that higher FDI flows are associated with higher levels of carbon emissions in the case of emerging markets. Sustainability reporting attracts FDI to commodity exporting countries. The study provides possibilities for future research in a post-pandemic future.
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spelling doaj.art-23fbb883b61d4bf095d1008b2e28a1ee2023-11-22T15:58:23ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-09-011419603910.3390/en14196039Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?Niranjan Chipalkatti0Quan Vu Le1Meenakshi Rishi2Department of Accounting, Seattle University, Seattle, WA 98122, USAYSEALI Academy, Fulbright University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, VietnamDepartment of Economics, Seattle University, Seattle, WA 98122, USASustainable investing allocates investments based on environmental, social and governance factors (ESG). The societal value of sustainable investment is becoming progressively relevant as investors are increasingly recognizing the importance of investing in companies that seek to combat climate change, environmental destruction, while promoting corporate responsibility. Environmental policy and sustainable growth initiatives at a country-level are also being influenced by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Situated within the current trend of declining foreign direct investment flows (FDI), our study examines the role of ESG factors in attracting FDI and enabling progress toward SDGs. We econometrically examine the linkages between ESG and FDI inflows for a sample of 161 counties. We also focus on low- and middle-income emerging economies and low- and middle-income commodity exporters as these countries face unique challenges of mobilizing financing to achieve SDGs and generating sustainable economic growth. Results suggest that FDI inflows to the full sample of countries are positively attracted by good governance in a destination country. We observe that good scores on HDI deters FDI, that higher FDI flows are associated with higher levels of carbon emissions in the case of emerging markets. Sustainability reporting attracts FDI to commodity exporting countries. The study provides possibilities for future research in a post-pandemic future.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6039sustainable investingenvironmental-social-governance (ESG) factorsforeign direct investment (FDI)Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)pollution haven hypothesis (PHH)
spellingShingle Niranjan Chipalkatti
Quan Vu Le
Meenakshi Rishi
Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?
Energies
sustainable investing
environmental-social-governance (ESG) factors
foreign direct investment (FDI)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
pollution haven hypothesis (PHH)
title Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?
title_full Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?
title_fullStr Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?
title_full_unstemmed Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?
title_short Sustainability and Society: Do Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?
title_sort sustainability and society do environmental social and governance factors matter for foreign direct investment
topic sustainable investing
environmental-social-governance (ESG) factors
foreign direct investment (FDI)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
pollution haven hypothesis (PHH)
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/19/6039
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