Discussion paper
DP20031 The G in ESG: How Good are the Governance Ratings in ESG Ratings?
I study the quality of the governance pillar of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) ratings. Since 2018, ESG integration strategies, many of which rely on ESG ratings, have dominated the ESG investing sphere. I examine the governance ratings’ ability to provide useful information to shareholders. My results not only suggest rather limited success in predicting relevant firm outcomes (such as financial-statement restatements, governance incidents, class action lawsuits, operating performance, firm value, stock returns, and credit ratings), but in the case of most raters, I identify multiple instances of counterintuitive results, that is, with the opposite direction of the effect.
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