No abstract

We investigate whether mandatory energy performance certificates of existing residential properties contribute to property price premiums after the implementation of the EU directive on the energy performance of buildings in the Swedish private housing market. Analysing mandatory energy performance certificates of the 2009-2010 private housing transactions, we find that energy performance is associated with transaction price in situations when it is conditional on a reference benchmark. We also document property price premiums for energy performance within housing segments built before 1960 and those with a lower transaction price per square metre. Our results suggest that the property market values energy performance, and we make recommendations on which housing segments need policy support to encourage energy improvements.

The study extends previous research on the relation between environmental and financial performance in two ways. First, we recognize that inherent environmental risk differs among industries. Increased levels of industry risk cause companies to have lower market values even if they are more profitable than companies in low risk industries. Second, we decompose the multi-dimensional environmental opportunity construct into dimensions of preparedness and performance. As an extension of previous research on the economic value of environmental performance, we show that the reputational benefits of environmental preparedness mainly increase market value, while environmental performance also can bring operational benefits to financial performance. In high risk or polluting industries, environmental management is costly and reduces the operating performance of companies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Purpose – Industries differ in their environmental impacts, such as emissions, water and energy use, fuel consumption and hazardous wastes, which will have implications for how environmental performance translates to operating performance and market value at company level. By incorporating industry-specific differences of environmental impacts, this paper includes industry-level environmental risk as a moderating factor on the relationship between two indicators of corporate environmental performance (CEP) (management and policy) and corporate financial performance (profitability and market value). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using panel data of US companies across all industries, the paper empirically tests a regression model, which includes an interaction effect representing both the form and strength of dependency of CEP on the environmental risk of the industry. The paper adopts the natural resource based theory to argue that financial returns are a decreasing function of CEP in high environmental impact industries, where environmental spending beyond compliance is costly and there is not much opportunity for consumer orientation. Findings – The results show that environmental management has different impacts on operating performance at high and low environmental risk of the industry (form of relationship) while environmental policy (reporting) has a stronger signal on market premium in industries with low rather than high environmental risk (strength of relationship). Differences in both form and strength of moderating effects are demonstrated. Research limitations/implications – Further research can introduce other industry-specific moderating factors, such as the disclosure maturity of the industry and the institutionalization of environmental disclosures across boarders in the industries, in order to explore the complexity of the relationship. Practical implications – The results of the paper are relevant to investors, company managers and a broad group of stakeholders when considering both industry- and company-level environmental risks. Originality/value – Previous studies have relied on controlling for industry membership. This paper uses an industry-specific environmental variable, environmental risk of the industry, to examine the form and strength of moderating effects.

Research question/issue: The paper examines private engagements related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) incidents as a corporate governance mechanism used by Nordic institutional investors to influence MSCI World companies. The questions addressed are how an agent-led collaborative engagement is carried out, what are the characteristics of the target companies selected, and if the successful engagements can improve ESG performance compared with pre-engagement and incomplete cases. Research findings/insights: A unique data set of 355 private engagements of a professional agent on behalf of its Nordic clients is studied on environment, human and labor rights, and corruption risks between 2005 and 2013. An engagement process of the agent is described with focus on sequence and duration of actions of private engagement dialogues before filing a resolution. Successful private engagements, when target companies adopt the proposed ESG changes, are 27.6%. The incidentdriven private engagements target companies rated with high market values and ESG performance. ESG performance and transparency increase for succeeded engagements in the postengagement period and relative to incomplete engagements.Theoretical/academic implications: The paper provides empirical support for a social movement-based influence of private engagements on target companies and adds to the broad-scale empirical literature on investor activism. In the Nordic governance setting, an agent-coordinated private engagement is seen as a social movement that supports targeting companies with a potential for change.Practical/policy implications: Insights are offered to actors in the value chain in financial markets by demonstrating that successful ESG engagements have the potential to change portfolio company ESG practices.