The information contained in investor sentiment has up to now hardly been used for portfolio optimization, although theoretical works demonstrate that it should not be neglected and it has already been shown to contain exploitable information on future returns and volatility. Employing the...

The UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) is a prominent global initiative by institutional investors to support the development of a sustainable financial system. Neither the participation in this initiative nor the implementation of the principles by its signatories are compulsory....

Joining voluntary thematic initiatives can be a means for firms to legitimate their business activities. However, a lack of review mechanisms could create incentives for free-riding. This might lead to a lower commitment to the initiative’s principles, and endanger its credibility and its...

This research examines whether stocks of firms operating in highly polluting industries (“dirty stocks”) are treated like sin stocks. We assume that investors shun dirty stocks based on non-pecuniary preferences and employ screening approaches that lead to the exclusion of entire industries....

We examine whether mandatory climate reporting leads to changes in firms’ carbon emissions. Using propensity score matching and a difference-in-differences design, we assess the effects of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP), introduced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in...

Demand for sustainable fixed-income investment solutions is surging but there is hardly research on the impact of sustainability on the risk characteristics of fixed-income portfolios. This study examines the impact of sustainability on the credit risk exposure of U.S. corporate bond portfolios...

This research identifies investors’ environmental tastes as an explanation of the pollution premium in asset pricing. Showing that stocks of firms with higher toxic emissions earn higher risk-adjusted returns in the cross-section of the US stock market, we find that environmental tastes are...

We investigate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and firm value effects of more than 7,000 shareholder proposals submitted between 2006–2020. Using propensity score matching and a difference-in-differences setting, the results indicate that firms that receive an ESG- or...