Applying Economics – Not Gut Feel – To ESG

Financial Analysts Journal 79(4), 16-29, 2023

32 Pages Posted: 3 Feb 2023 Last revised: 19 Dec 2023

See all articles by Alex Edmans

Alex Edmans

London Business School - Institute of Finance and Accounting; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: August 22, 2023

Abstract

Interest in ESG is at an all-time high. However, academic research on ESG is still relatively nascent, which often leads us to apply gut feel on the grounds that ESG is so urgent that we cannot wait for peer-reviewed research. This paper highlights how the insights of mainstream economics can be applied to ESG, once we realize that ESG is no different to other investments that create long-term financial and social value. A large literature on corporate finance studies how to value investments; asset pricing explores how the stock market prices risks; welfare economics investigates externalities; private benefits analyze manager and investor preferences beyond shareholder value; optimal contracting considers how to achieve multiple objectives; and agency theory examines how to ensure that managers pursue shareholder preferences, including non-financial preferences. I identify how conventional thinking on ten key ESG issues is overturned when applying the insights of mainstream economics.

Keywords: ESG, SRI, CSR, sustainable investing, responsible business

Suggested Citation

Edmans, Alex, Applying Economics – Not Gut Feel – To ESG (August 22, 2023). Financial Analysts Journal 79(4), 16-29, 2023, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4346646 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4346646

Alex Edmans (Contact Author)

London Business School - Institute of Finance and Accounting ( email )

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
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