2022/12/21 by Alex Edmans · 3 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · #Corporate Finance and Governance #Private Equity and Venture Capital
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/fima.12413
openalex publication_date 2022/12/21 · crossref created 2022/12/21 · openalex created_date 2023/01/06 · crossref issued 2023/01/18 · crossref published 2023/01/18 · crossref published-online 2023/01/18 · crossref published-print 2023/03/01 · crossref deposited 2023/12/03 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
Abstract ESG is both extremely important and nothing special. It's extremely important because it's critical to long‐term value, and so any academic or practitioner should take it seriously, not just those with “ESG” in their research interests or job title. Thus, ESG doesn't need a specialized term, as that implies it's niche—considering long‐term factors isn't ESG investing; it's investing. It's nothing special since it's no better or worse than other intangible assets that create long‐term financial and social returns, such as management quality, corporate culture, and innovative capability. Companies shouldn't be praised more for improving their ESG performance than these other intangibles; investor engagement on ESG factors shouldn't be put on a pedestal compared to engagement on other value drivers. We want great companies, not just companies that are great at ESG.