Shareholder activism on sustainability issues has become increasingly prevalent over the years, with the number of proposals filed doubling from 1999 to 2013. We use recent innovations in accounting standard setting to classify 2,665 shareholder proposals that address environmental and social...

To reduce a negative externality, socially responsible households can invest responsibly (SRI), consume responsibly (SRC), or do both. Which is better? In a closed microeconomic model with intertwined product and capital markets, we analyze how responsible households should use SRI and SRC to...

The trend to incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) matters into corporate boardrooms and capital markets is pervasive. Nevertheless, considerable uncertainty exists over what ESG is, how it should be implemented, and its financial and nonfinancial impacts on corporate outcomes...

We propose a novel way of measuring the equity portfolio-level environmental and social characteristics of a 13F institution (the “sustainability footprint”) and examine the relation between sustainability footprints and risk-adjusted investment performance. The analysis shows that 13F...

This paper examines the emergent role of sustainable finance and investment in Japan and scrutinizes the need for the Japanese financial system to mitigate growing climate risks and support the transition of the Japanese economy to a low-carbon, sustainable pathway. It first illustrates Japan's...

This study investigates the growing importance of sustainability in financial markets by estimating the extent of capitalisation of companies' commitment to sustainability on their market value. The spreading concern for social and environmental issues, and especially for the material risks of...