Share:


Sustainability bonds. An international event study

    Mihaela Mocanu   Affiliation
    ; Laura-Gabriela Constantin Affiliation
    ; Bogdan Cernat-Gruici Affiliation

Abstract

Sustainability bonds enable capital-raising and investment for those projects that have both a positive impact on the environment and a positive social outcome. This study examines the stock market reaction to the announcement of sustainability bonds issuance. The present research is designed as follows: first, an event study that examines the market reaction and second, a highlight of drivers influencing this market reaction via a linear regression with cluster-robust standard errors. Overall, small and negative sample-wide reactions to sustainability bond issue announcements were found. Additionally, the study finds significant negative abnormal returns before the publication in June 2018 of The Sustainability Bond Guidelines by the International Capital Market Association. Specifically, the size of the bond issue, whether the bond is callable or not, the announcement of the issue as a single event in a day, the company’s Return on Assets, the firm’s social disclosure score, and the issuance of the bond prior or after June 2018 are statistically significant factors that influence the stock returns of issuers.

Keyword : sustainability bonds, sustainable development, international capital markets, sustainable finance, event study, financial analysis

How to Cite
Mocanu, M., Constantin, L.-G., & Cernat-Gruici, B. (2021). Sustainability bonds. An international event study. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 22(6), 1551-1576. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2021.15372
Published in Issue
Nov 10, 2021
Abstract Views
2609
PDF Downloads
2014
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Aktas, N., DeBodt, E., & Cousin, J. (2011). Do financial markets care about SRI? Evidence from mer-gers and acquisitions. Journal of Banking & Finance, 35(7), 1753–1761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2010.12.006

AlAhbabi, R., & Nobanee, H. (2020). Sustainability bonds: A mini-review. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3540119

Bachelet, M. J., Becchetti, L., & Manfredonia, S. (2019). The green bonds premium puzzle: The role of issuer characteristics and third-party verification. Sustainability, 11(4), 1098. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11041098

Basgoze, P., Yildiz, Y., & Metin Camgoz, S. (2016). Effect of brand value announcements on stock returns: empirical evidence from Turkey. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 17(6), 1252–1269. https://doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2016.1153517

Baulkaran, V. (2019). Stock market reaction to green bond issuance. Journal of Asset Management, 20(5), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41260-018-00105-1

Becchetti, L., Ciciretti, R., Hasan, I., & Kobeissi, N. (2012). Corporate social responsibility and share-holder’s value. Journal of Business Research, 65(11), 1628–1635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.022

Bodie, Z., Kane, A., & Marcus A. J. (2018). Investments (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Busu, M. (2019). Assessment of the impact of bioenergy on sustainable economic development. Energies, 12(4), 578. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040578

Capelle-Blancard, G., & Laguna, M. (2010). How does the stock market respond to chemical disasters? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 59(2), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2009.11.002

Cheong, C., & Choi, J. (2020). Green bonds: A survey. Journal of Derivatives and Quantitative Studies, 28(4), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1108/JDQS-09-2020-0024

Deng, X., Kang, J. K., & Low, B. S. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers. Journal of Financial Economics, 110(1), 87–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.04.014

Dimson, E., Marsh, P., & Staunton, M. (2020). Credit suisse global investment returns yearbook 2020 summary edition. Research Institute. Credit Suisse. Zurich. https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/studies-publications.html

Dorfleitner, G., Utz, S., & Zhang, R. (2021). The pricing of green bonds: External reviews and the shades of green. Review of Managerial Science, 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-021-00458-9

DZ Bank. (2020). DZ BANK Spotlight: Sustainable Bond market forecast 2020. Sustainable Finance Bulletin, 03. https://www.dzbank.de/content/dam/dzbank_de/de/home/produkte_services/institutionelle/bilder/Retarus/PDF/Archiv/DZB%20Bulletin%20Sustainable%20Finance%2003%20E.pdf

Eckbo, E. B., Masulis, R. W., & Norli, O. (2007). Security offerings. In B. E. Eckbo (Ed.), Handbook of empirical corporate finance: Handbooks in finance (Vol. 1, pp. 233–373). Elsevier/North-Holland. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53265-7.50020-2

Ernst & Young Global Limited. (2021). Perspectives on a European green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (Summary report. April 2021). https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_gl/topics/assurance/assurance-pdfs/ey-green-recovery-report.pdf

Fatica, S., Panzica, R., & Rancan, M. (2021). The pricing of green bonds: are financial institutions special? Journal of Financial Stability, 54, 100873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfs.2021.100873

Ferrer, R., Shahzad, S. J. H., & Soriano, P. (2021). Are green bonds a different asset class? Evidence from time-frequency connectedness analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 292, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125988

Fisher-Vanden, K., & Thorburn, K. (2011). Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and share-holder wealth. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 62(3), 430–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2011.04.003

Flammer, C. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and shareholder reaction: The environmental awareness of investors. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), 758‒781. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0744

Flammer, C. (2020). Corporate green bonds. Journal of Financial Economics (JFE) (in Press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.01.010

Gray, R. (2010). Is accounting for sustainability actually accounting for sustainability… and how would we know? An exploration of narratives of organisations and the planet. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2009.04.006

Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. (2019). Global sustainable investment review 2018. http://www.gsi-alliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GSIR_Review2018F.pdf

Gutterman, A. S. (2021). Sustainable finance and impact investing. Business Expert Press. https://www.businessexpertpress.com/books/sustainable-finance-and-impact-investing/

Hagendorff, B., Hagendorff, J., & Keasey, K. (2013). The shareholder wealth effects of insurance securitization: Preliminary evidence from the catastrophe bond market. Journal of Financial Services Research, 44(3), 281–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10693-012-0147-x

Hammoudeh, S., Ajmi, A. N., & Mokni, K. (2020). Relationship between green bonds and financial and environmental variables: A novel time-varying causality. Energy Economics, 92, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104941

Iamandi, I. E. (2012). Empirical analysis on CSR communication in Romania: Transparency and participation. Romanian Economic Journal, 15(46), 25–50. http://www.rejournal.eu/sites/rejournal.versatech.ro/files/articole/2012-12-01/1991/iamandi.pdf

International Capital Market Association. (2018). The sustainability bond guidelines June 2018. ICMA. https://www.icmagroup.org/assets/documents/Regulatory/Green-Bonds/Sustainability-Bonds-Guidelines-June-2018-270520.pdf

Jindřichovská, I., Kubíčková, D., & Mocanu, M. (2020). Case study analysis of sustainability reporting of an agrifood giant. Sustainability, 12(11), 4491–4511. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114491

Jones, P., & Comfort, D. (2020). Sustainability bonds and green bonds in the retail sector. International Journal of Sales, Retailing and Marketing, 9(1), 37–43. http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/8193/1/8193-Jones-%282020%29-Sustainability-Bonds-and-Green-Bonds-in-the-Retail-Sector.pdf

Karpoff, J., Lott Jr. J., & Wehrly, E. (2005). The reputational penalties for environmental violations: Empirical evidence. The Journal of Law and Economics, 48(2), 653–675. https://doi.org/10.1086/430806

Kish, R. J. (1997). Does the market react to surprise issues of callable and noncallable debt? Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions, 10(1), 27–38. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Kish/publication/237783442_DOES_THE_MARKET_REACT_TO_SURPRISE_ISSUES_OF_CALLABLE_AND_NONCALLABLE_DEBT/links/5423f6dc0cf238c6ea6e8039.pdf

Kish, R. J., & Livingston, M. (1993). Market reactions to callable and noncallable debt issues. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 9(4), 54–64. https://doi.org/10.19030/jabr.v9i4.5994

Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler. (2020). Sustainable finance: It’s decision time. From niche product to new business model. Part one of our Sustainable finance series. https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/lu/pdf/sustainable-finance-it-is-decision-time.pdf

Krüger, P. (2015). Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth. Journal of Financial Economics, 115(2), 304–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2014.09.008

Laborda, J., & Sanchez-Guerra, Á. (2021). Green bond finance in Europe and the stock market reaction. Estudios de economía aplicada, 39(3), 5. https://doi.org/10.25115/eea.v39i3.4125

Laerd Statistics. (2015). Multiple regression using SPSS Statistics. Statistical tutorials and software guides. https://statistics.laerd.com/

Laerd Statistics. (2017). Somers’d using Stata. Statistical tutorials and software guides. https://statistics.laerd.com/

La Torre, M., & Chiappini, H. (2020). Sustainable finance: Trends, opportunities and risks. In M. La Torre & H. Chiappini (Ed.), Part of the Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance. Contemporary issues in sustainable finance (pp. 281–288). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40248-8_11

Lapinskienė, G., Peleckis, K., & Nedelko, Z. (2017). Testing environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: The role of enterprise’s sustainability and other factors on GHG in European countries. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 18(1), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2016.1249401

Larcker, D. F., & Watts, E. M. (2020). Where’s the greenium? Journal of Accounting and Economics, 69(2–3), 101312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2020.101312

Lebelle, M., Lajili Jarjir, S., & Sassi, S. (2020). Corporate green bond issuances: An international evidence. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 13(2), 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm13020025

Lee, J. W. (2020). Green finance and sustainable development goals: The case of China. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(7), 577–586. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no7.577

London Stock Exchange. (2021, February). Sustainable Bond Market (SBM). Factsheet. https://www.lseg.com/sites/default/files/content/documents/LSEG%20SBM%20Factsheet%20%28effective%2019%20February%202021%29_0.pdf

Machado, J. A., & Santos Silva, J. M. C. (2000). Glejser’s test revisited. Journal of Econometrics, 97(1), 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(00)00016-6

Machado, J. A., Parente, P., & Santos Silva, J. (2011). QREG2: Stata module to perform quantile regression with robust and clustered standard errors. https://econpapers.repec.org/software/bocbocode/s457369.htm

Maltais, A., & Nykvist, B. (2020). Understanding the role of green bonds in advancing sustainability. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2020.1724864

McKinsey. (2021). How companies capture the value of sustainability: Survey findings. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/how-companies-capture-the-value-of-sustainability-survey-findings

Migliorelli, M. (2021). What do we mean by sustainable finance? Assessing existing frameworks and policy risks. Sustainability, 13(2), 975. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020975

Migliorelli, M., & Dessertine, P. (Eds.). (2019). The rise of green finance in Europe. Opportunities and challenges for issuers, investors and marketplaces. In Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance. Migliorelli, M., & Dessertine, P. From Transaction-Based to Mainstream Green Finance (pp. 153–174). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22510-0

Mocanu, M. (2015). Nachhaltigkeitscontrolling im Rahmen von Corporate Governance. Grundlegende Ansätze und Instrumente. ASE Publishing House. https://docplayer.org/19590550-Nachhaltigkeitscontrolling-im-rahmen-von-corporate-governance-grundlegende-ansaetze-und-instrumente.html

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. (2020). Nasdaq sustainable bond criteria. European Market Services. https://www.nasdaq.com/docs/2020/10/14/Nasdaq-Sustainable-Bond-Criteria.pdf

Nayar, N. N., & Stock, D. (2008). Make-whole call provisions: A case of “much ado about nothing”? Journal of Corporate Finance, 14(4), 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2008.04.006

Ntsama, U. Y. O., Yan, C., Nasiri, A., & Mboungam, A. H. M. (2021). Green bonds issuance: In-sights in low-and middle-income countries. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 6(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-020-00056-0

OECD. (n.d.). Centre on green finance and investment. https://www.oecd.org/cgfi/about/

Parente, P. M. D. C., & Santos Silva, J. M. C. (2016). Quantile regression with clustered data. Journal of Econometric Methods, 5(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1515/jem-2014-0011

Park, S. (2019). Green bonds and beyond: Debt financing as a sustainability driver. In B. Sjåfjell & C. Bruner (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of corporate law, corporate governance and sustainability (pp. 596–610). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108658386.049

Quirici, M. C. (2020). The increasing importance of green bonds as instruments of impact investing: Towards a New European Standardisation. In Palgrave studies in impact finance. M. La Torre & H. Chiappini, Contemporary issues in sustainable finance (pp. 177–203). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40248-8_8

Rahim, N. A., Goodacre, A., & Veld, C. (2014). Wealth effects of convertible-bond and warrant-bond offerings: A meta-analysis. The European Journal of Finance, 20(4), 380–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2012.712920

Ramiah, V., & Gregoriou, G. N. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of environmental and sustainable finance. Academic Press, Elsevier. https://www.worldcat.org/title/handbook-of-environmental-and-sustainable-finance/oclc/927585803

Roman, A.-G., Mocanu, M., & Hoinaru, R. (2019). Disclosure style and its determinants in integrated reports. Sustainability, 11(7), 1960–1976. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11071960

Roslen, S. N. M., Yee, L. S., & Ibrahim, S. A. B. (2017). Green Bond and shareholders’ wealth: A multi-country event study. International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 9(1), 61–69. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJGSB.2017.084701

Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Durand-Delacre, D. & Teksoz, K. (2016). SDG index and dashboards 2016 (Global report). Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), New York. https://www.sdgindex.org/reports/sdg-index-and-dashboards-2016/

Sangiorgi, I., & Schopohl, L. (2021). Why do institutional investors buy green bonds: Evidence from a survey of European asset managers. International Review of Financial Analysis, 75, 101738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101738

Schimmer, M., Levchenko, A., & Müller, S. (2014). Research Apps. St. Gallen. EventStudyTools. https://www.eventstudytools.com

Tang, D. Y., & Zhang, Y. (2020). Do shareholders benefit from green bonds? Journal of Corporate Finance, 61, 101427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2018.12.001

Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. (2017). Recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures (Final report). https://assets.bbhub.io/company/sites/60/2020/10/FINAL-2017-TCFD-Report-11052018.pdf

Tillier, N., & Schroeder, B. (2020, July 8). Green bonds fade while social bonds blaze. https://think.ing.com/articles/sustainable-finance-green-bonds-fade-social-bonds-flare/

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (2020). World Investment Report 2020: International production beyond the pandemic. UNCTAD. https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/wir2020_en.pdf

Wang, J., Chen, X., Li, X., Yu, J., & Zhong, R. (2020). The market reaction to green bond issuance: Evidence from China. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 60, 101294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2020.101294

Wang, L., Chen, L., & Chen, J. (2019). Announcement effect and its determinants of exchangeable bonds. Finance Research Letters, 30, 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.04.015

Wang, Y., & Zhi, Q. (2016). The role of green finance in environmental protection: Two aspects of market mechanism and policies. Energy Procedia, 104, 311–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2016.12.053

Wendt, K. (Ed.). (2018). Positive impact investing: A sustainable bridge between strategy, innovation, change and learning. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10118-7

Wendt, K. (2020). Social stock exchanges: Defining the research agenda. In Palgrave studies in impact finance. M. La Torre & H. Chiappini (Eds.), Contemporary issues in sustainable finance (pp. 79–129). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40248-8_5

World Federation of Exchanges. (2020). Exchanges advancing the sustainable finance agenda (The WFE’s 6th Annual Sustainability Survey). WFE. https://www.world-exchanges.org/storage/app/media/WFE%20Annual%20Sustainability%20Survey%202020%20150720.pdf

Zhan, J. X., & Santos-Paulino, A. U. (2021). Investing in the sustainable development goals: Mobilization, channeling, and impact. Journal of International Business Policy, 4(1), 166–183. https://doi.org/10.1057/s42214-020-00093-3

Zhou, X., & Cui, Y. (2019). Green bonds, corporate performance, and corporate social responsibility. Sustainability, 11(23), 6881. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236881

Ziolo, M., & Sergi, B. S. (Eds.). (2019). Financing sustainable development: Key challenges and prospects. Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16522-2