Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating agencies, acting as relevant financial market actors, should take a stand on working towards achieving a more sustainable development. In this context, the objective of this paper is, on the one hand, to understand how criteria used by ESG rating agencies in their assessment processes have evolved over the last ten years and, on the other hand, to analyze whether ESG rating agencies are contributing to fostering sustainable development by the inclusion of sustainability principles into their assessment processes and practices according to the ESG criteria. This research is based on a comparative descriptive analysis of the public information provided by the most representative ESG rating and information provider agencies in the financial market in two periods: 2008 and 2018. The findings show that ESG rating agencies have integrated new criteria into their assessment models to measure corporate performance more accurately and robustly in order to respond to new global challenges. However, a deep analysis of the criteria also shows that ESG rating agencies do not fully integrate sustainability principles into the corporate sustainability assessment process.

Registro de acceso restringido Este recurso no está disponible en acceso abierto por política de la editorial. No obstante, se puede acceder al texto completo desde la Universitat Jaume I o si el usuario cuenta con suscripción. Registre d'accés restringit Aquest recurs no està disponible en accés obert per política de l'editorial. No obstant això, es pot accedir al text complet des de la Universitat Jaume I o si l'usuari compta amb subscripció. Restricted access item This item isn't open access because of publisher's policy. The full--text version is only available from Jaume I University or if the user has a running suscription to the publisher's contents.

The development of sustainable finance favors the appearance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating agencies as providers of ESG information and tools for measuring the contribution of companies to sustainable development. This paper attempts to show whether assessment methods adopted by eight ESG agencies are consistent with the Integrative ESG Sustainable Value Framework proposed according to the literature and sustainable business models (SBMs) conceptualization.An exploratory research analyzes whether these methods are identifying and/or driving more SBMs that contribute to promote the creation of sustainable value, seeking to generate economic, social, and environmental value. Results indicate that ESG rating agencies identify the short-term results in the internal organizational perspective mainly in the environmental dimension, whereas social aspects are emphasized from the external organizational perspective. However, ESG rating agencies are not driving a more SBMs that must integrate ESG criteria in a holistic way with a short-term and long-term perspective. KEYWORDS corporate sustainability (CS), environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating agencies, sustainable and responsible investment (SRI), sustainable business models (SBMs), sustainable development, sustainable value creation

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Preprint: Escrig-Olmedo, E., Rivera-Lirio, J. M., Muñoz-Torres, M. J., & Fernández-Izquierdo, M. Á. (2017). Integrating multiple ESG investors' preferences into sustainable investment 1 Integrating multiple ESG investors' preferences into sustainable investment: A fuzzy multicriteria methodological approach AbstractThe integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the evaluation process of assets is a theme that is widely accepted among socially responsible investors. In this process, however, the integration of investors' preferences has not been adequately developed. The challenge is to integrate the preferences of heterogeneous investors-not only conventional investors but also investors who are particularly sensitive to sustainability issues (socially responsible investors)-considering that socially responsible investors are not necessarily homogeneous. This paper attempts to address this challenge by developing a methodological approach based on an application of fuzzy multicriteria decision-making methods (MCDM) to integrate ESG investors' preferences, as jointly considered. Because investors' preferences may vary depending on which material aspects are considered within a sector, this study has been tested using clothing-sector data. Results confirm the usefulness of the methodological approach proposed for a proper generation of a 'commercial solution' that integrates the preferences of various investors and simultaneously is consistent with individually defined preferences. IntroductionThis study proposes a methodological tool for assessing the sustainable production and management of companies with the aim of improving the integration of multiple environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investor preferences that must act together. This tool could be translated for use in the financial markets in the case of institutional investors' decision-making process.Sustainable investment is considered a comprehensive term for what is known as responsible investment, socially responsible investment (SRI), or ESG investment (Utz et al., 2015). Following authors such as Busch et al. (2016), this paper is based on the term 'sustainable investment' as a general term to define an investment process that has a potential positive impact on sustainable development through the integration of not only financial concerns but also long-term ESG criteria into investment decisions. On this basis, in this study socially responsible investors (SR investors) are defined as those which adopt a long term investment horizon (Guyatt, 2005), expecting returns no lower than other investors; although, some are willing to sacrifice returns for corporate sustainability (Statman et al., 2008).According to Eurosif (2014), the key driver of the sustainable-investment market remains institutional investor demand. Pension funds form a subset of institutional investors with a long-term perspective (Neubaum and Zahra, 2006). In this setting, the investment strategies developed by institutional investors i...

Registro de acceso restringido Este recurso no está disponible en acceso abierto por política de la editorial. No obstante, se puede acceder al texto completo desde la Universitat Jaume I o si el usuario cuenta con suscripción. Registre d'accés restringit Aquest recurs no està disponible en accés obert per política de l'editorial. No obstant això, es pot accedir al text complet des de la Universitat Jaume I o si l'usuari compta amb subscripció. Restricted access item This item isn't open access because of publisher's policy. The full--text version is only available from Jaume I University or if the user has a running suscription to the publisher's contents.

Abstract:The integration of sustainability principles into the assessment of companies along the supply chains is a growing research area. However, there is an absence of a generally accepted method to evaluate corporate sustainability performance (CSP), and the models and frameworks proposed by the literature present various important challenges to be addressed. A systematic literature review on the supply chain at the corporate level has been conducted, analyzing the main strengths and gaps in the sustainability assessment literature. Therefore, this paper aims to contribute to the development of this field by proposing an assessment framework a leading company can adopt to expand sustainability principles to the rest of the members of the supply chain. This proposal is based on best practices and integrates and shares efforts with key initiatives (for instance, the Organizational Environmental Footprint from the European Commission and United Nations Environment Programme and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry UNEP/SETAC); moreover, it overcomes important limitations of the current sustainability tools in a supply chain context consistent with the circular economy, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), planetary boundaries, and social foundation requirements. The results obtained create, on the one hand, new opportunities for academics; and, on the other hand, in further research, the use of this framework could be a means of actively engaging companies in their supply chains and of achieving the implementation of practical and comprehensive CSP assessment.

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