Sustainable Finance. What does economic research say?
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Publication date
2023
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Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME)
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Abstract
This study presents, from the perspective of different financial market actors, a brief state of play of the main issues addressed by the academic economic literature (both theoretical and empirical) following the inclusion of sustainability in Finance.
From the investor perspective, empirical work addresses sustainability by researching, for example, whether there are significant differences between investors’ returns on sustainable versus traditional financial products, while in theoretical work, sustainability is implying a revision of traditional models of portfolio selection and asset pricing.
Regarding those that focus on the issuers’ perspective, the literature is focused to a large extent on how sustainability may affect the cost and
the amount of financial resources they raise in the markets and how companies can attract this finance by signalling the market in different ways about their quality as sustainable.
The role of regulators then emerges, who have to define the criteria that make the company’s commitment credible, and the debate arises between self-regulation and public regulation of sustainable financial product markets.
This paper also takes into account the perspective of supervisors, in this case of the financial system, analysing the active role that central banks may play in support of a sustainable economy. The study points out how the incorporation of sustainability highlights the existence of previously unconsidered risk factors, such as the carbon premium of securities with higher emissions or, conversely, the possible lower financial risk of sustainable banks. It also notes several studies showing how climate risks are already reflected in asset prices, such as the higher returns required for municipal bonds of localities more exposed to flood risks.
This study, in short, takes the pulse of an intense academic activity related to sustainable finance and its impact on the financial industry and the corporate sector, which is currently in expansion.