9:30 am – 10:40 am Break out – Academic Paper Panel – Costs of Climate Change and Carbon Risk Management (Session 7) Paper A: The Cost of Delaying to Invest: A Canadian Perspective Sean Cleary, and Neal Willcott, Queen’s University, Canada Paper B: Do Firms Benefit from Carbon Risk Management? Evidence from the Credit Default Swaps Market Duong, H. N., Kalev, P. S., Kalimipalli, M., and Trivedi S., Wilfred Laurier University, Canada
Session Chair: Sana Mohsni, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
Paper A: Regulation of Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Developing Countries
Abstract: The financial market is seeing an effective, prudent and efficient increase, seen as a demand side development as today’s stakeholders and private equity investors are continuously venturing in liquid assets done in ways deemed socially responsible. As a result, the term paper offers a comprehensive background and lay emphasis on how the market for responsible investments has evolved over the years, the urgent need to introduce a robust Regulation to regulate activities in this market and at the same time, report on the importance of Regulation and how it helps to increase investment activities particularly in developing and emerging economies. Consequently, the contribution made in this term paper evaluates the theoretical underpinnings, if any, revolving on Sustainable and Responsible Regulation with relevance to related debates, regarding prudent investment approaches, stakeholder engagement, sustainable investments, corporate social responsibilities, and public funds. The Term paper examines these variables and establish how an effective introduction of Regulation in the SRI environment will contribute positively to societal development.
Thus, Current positive developments in the SRI environment presents an opportunity to examine both the benefits and the problems that will be associated with the impact of the implementation of the proposed Regulation. This term paper presents an opportunity for policy drafters to consider strongly the introduction of Sustainable and Responsible Regulation. Finally, the Term paper identifies relevant possible future areas of interest for research to academia.
Paper B: Beyond the Shades: The Impact of Credit Rating and Greenness on the Green Bond Premium
Huynh, T., Ridder, N., and Wang, M.
Abstract: Green bonds are an innovative and rapidly growing fixed-income asset class that have significant potential in channelling funds towards climate and environmentally friendly investment projects, catalysing the transition to a more sustainable economy. This paper revisits the green bond premium and evaluates its determinants. For this purpose, 161 green bonds are matched with 322 conventional bonds from the same issuer that are also identical in terms of currency, rating, bond structure, seniority, collateral, and coupon type. Subsequently, yield differentials between the green and synthetic bonds are examined based on 71,440 daily observations from January 2016 to March 2021. The results provide significant evidence of an overall negative green bond premium, suggesting that green bonds experience lower yields than otherwise equivalent conventional bonds. The premium is significantly below zero across all continents observed and for both the financial and the government sector. On a cross-sectional average, the green bond premium equals -3.1 bps. The negative premium is more pronounced for green bonds with a lower credit rating. It is also stronger in the presence of an ESG rating and for bonds with a higher shade of green. Significant interaction effects between external review and rating provide evidence that the relationship between the green bond premium and the external review status depends on the bond’s credit rating, i.e., the external review status is more decisive for the green bond premium for bonds with a lower credit rating. The likelihood of obtaining such an external review, i.e., a second-party opinion, a third-party assurance, a green bond rating, or a certification mark, is positively correlated with proxies for social and environmental responsibility.