Name
Not All Green is Equal: The Financial Payoff of Doing More Good
Date & Time
Tuesday, July 7, 2026, 11:30 AM - 11:55 AM
Description
| We distinguish between two types of environmental activities: "more good" (restoring and enhancing ecosystems) and "less harm" (reducing negative externalities). Using large-language models applied to U.S. corporate sustainability reports (2015-2023), we find that more good actions predict higher future firm valuation, driven by stronger sales growth and increased institutional investor demand. This effect strengthened after 2020 and varies across industries based on strategic relevance. In contrast, less harm activities show no systematic relation to valuation, primarily improving operational efficiency. Results hold across multiple robustness tests. Our findings highlight the distinct financial payoffs of proactive versus compliance-driven environmental strategies, with implications for corporate resource allocation and sustainability policy. |
Speakers
Keywords
Nature-Positive; More good vs. less harm; Firm valuation; ESG measurement
Theme
CSR