Date of Publication

6-13-2022

Document Type

Bachelor's Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics major in Financial Economics

College

School of Economics

Department/Unit

Economics

Thesis Advisor

Jason Alinsunurin
Dickson Lim
Mariel Monica Sauler

Defense Panel Chair

Dickson Lim

Defense Panel Member

Jason Alinsunurin
Mariel Monica Sauler

Abstract/Summary

With the rise of awareness regarding social issues, there also comes with it a rise in consumers and investors who support businesses who make it their responsibility to perform ethical and sustainable business practices and take an active part in resolving or mitigating social issues. With that said, the recent surge of sustainable investing should reflect in a company’s valuation. To determine whether holding high ESG ratings are viewed as value-adding, unnecessary costs or a non-factor is the main objective of this paper. Stock returns are a good measure for this as stock price changes are easily monitored and reflect market sentiment regarding a firm’s prospects. This study contributes to a lacking pool of studies regarding ESG in the ASEAN region. The paper analyzes the relationship between ESG ratings and the stock returns of firms in the ASEAN-5 region (Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand) from 2016-2020 using a Pooled OLS approach. Results showed that there is an insignificant relationship between ESG ratings and stock returns. The paper concludes that it might be due to the fact that ASEAN markets aren’t yet developed enough to prioritize implementing corporate social responsibility programs on a larger scale, compared to western markets which may have led to underappreciated and improperly measured and monitored ESG ratings.

Keywords: Stock Return, Stock Market, Environmental Social Governance, ESG scores, Pooled OLS

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Keywords

Sustainable development—Southeast Asia; Price-earnings ratio—Southeast Asia

Upload Full Text

wf_yes

Embargo Period

7-12-2024

Download

Available for download on Friday, July 12, 2024

Share

COinS