Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research
We provide a synthesis of four decades of empirical research regarding the reaction of shareholders to environmental events. This literature is at the crossroads of finance, environmental economics, management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). To set the stage, we first provide an account o...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3c6e |
| _version_ | 1797747133844029440 |
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| author | Gunther Capelle-Blancard Adrien Desroziers Bert Scholtens |
| author_facet | Gunther Capelle-Blancard Adrien Desroziers Bert Scholtens |
| author_sort | Gunther Capelle-Blancard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We provide a synthesis of four decades of empirical research regarding the reaction of shareholders to environmental events. This literature is at the crossroads of finance, environmental economics, management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). To set the stage, we first provide an account of the Brumadinho ecological disaster that occurred in Brazil on January 25th, 2019. Second, we provide a critical review of more than 100 event studies. These papers cover a diverse set of events, such as industrial accidents, public disclosure programs, legal actions following environmental violations, changes in environmental regulation, environmental news, and corporate initiatives. This review makes four contributions. First is the synthesis of a large strand of literature in a structured setting, so as to be readily handled by both experts and non-experts. Second is the observation that stock market penalties in the event of environmental concerns are likely to be quite low: on average there is a (temporary) drop in the excess stock market return to events that are harmful to the environment of about 2% and the median is −0.6%. Third is to highlight the limits of CSR as a business strategy towards a sustainable society. Fourth is to provide an open access bibliographic database. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:46:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3edbf8783e594fc38404ced2c4b503ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:46:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-3edbf8783e594fc38404ced2c4b503ea2023-08-09T15:22:31ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-01161212300510.1088/1748-9326/ac3c6eShareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic researchGunther Capelle-Blancard0Adrien Desroziers1Bert Scholtens2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5774-5191Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne) & Paris School of Business , 106-112 Boulevard de l’Hôpital Cedex 13, Paris, 75647, FranceUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne) , Paris, FranceUniversity of Groningen, The Netherlands & University of Saint Andrews , United KingdomWe provide a synthesis of four decades of empirical research regarding the reaction of shareholders to environmental events. This literature is at the crossroads of finance, environmental economics, management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). To set the stage, we first provide an account of the Brumadinho ecological disaster that occurred in Brazil on January 25th, 2019. Second, we provide a critical review of more than 100 event studies. These papers cover a diverse set of events, such as industrial accidents, public disclosure programs, legal actions following environmental violations, changes in environmental regulation, environmental news, and corporate initiatives. This review makes four contributions. First is the synthesis of a large strand of literature in a structured setting, so as to be readily handled by both experts and non-experts. Second is the observation that stock market penalties in the event of environmental concerns are likely to be quite low: on average there is a (temporary) drop in the excess stock market return to events that are harmful to the environment of about 2% and the median is −0.6%. Third is to highlight the limits of CSR as a business strategy towards a sustainable society. Fourth is to provide an open access bibliographic database.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3c6eCSRindustrial accidentspublic disclosurelawsuitsESG newspolicy |
| spellingShingle | Gunther Capelle-Blancard Adrien Desroziers Bert Scholtens Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research Environmental Research Letters CSR industrial accidents public disclosure lawsuits ESG news policy |
| title | Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research |
| title_full | Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research |
| title_fullStr | Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research |
| title_short | Shareholders and the environment: a review of four decades of academic research |
| title_sort | shareholders and the environment a review of four decades of academic research |
| topic | CSR industrial accidents public disclosure lawsuits ESG news policy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3c6e |
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