美國經濟學家彌爾頓·傅利曼在1960年代和1970年代對盛行的博愛精神情緒直接回應,認為社會責任會對企業的財務績效產生不利影響,而"大政府"的監管和干預終究會損害宏觀經濟。[11]他認為公司或資產的估值應該幾近完全根據財務底線(社會責任所產生的成本被認為並非必要),此一論點在20世紀的大部分時間裡均頗盛行(參見傅利曼主義(英语:Friedman doctrine))。但到20世紀末,與其對立的理論開始流行。 芝加哥大學教授詹姆斯·S·科爾曼(英语:James Samuel Coleman)於1988年在《美國社會學期刊》上發表一篇題為《創造人力資本中的社會資本(Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital)》的文章,挑戰經濟學中佔主導地位的"自利"概念,並於價值衡量中引入社會資本的概念。[8]
雖然選擇投資於具社會責任的企業並非一新的概念,但資本市場的需求方長期以來一直無法提供如此的投資機會,而到21世紀之交才開始發展出對此的回應。投資市場開始出現適合盡責投資者所需的投資商品。 商業諮詢公司SustainAbility的聯合創始人約翰·埃爾金頓(英语:John Elkington))出版《使用刀叉的食人族:21世紀商業的三重底線(Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business )》,指出新出現的一系列非財務考慮因素應納入作為公司或股權價值的衡量因素。他所說的"三重底線",指的是新工具中所包含的金融、環境和社會因素。[12][13]與此同時,環境部門和金融部門之間的嚴格劃分開始瓦解。 克里斯·耶茨-史密斯(Chris Yates-Smith) 於2002年在倫敦市協助創立該市首個環境金融研究小組。這個由金融領袖、城市律師和環境管理者(非政府組織)的圈子被稱為"良性循環"(The Virtuous Circle,英文諺語,用來描述一種正向的反饋迴路,此迴路中,一個事件的結果會導致另一個事件,而這個結果又會反過來強化第一個事件),其宗旨是研究環境和社會標準與財務績效之間的相關性。全球多家大型銀行和投資公司開始透過提供賣方服務來應對世人對ESG投資市場升高的興趣。其中最早如此做的機構包括巴西聯合銀行和木星資產管理公司(英语:JUPITER FUND MANAGEMENT),木星資產管理公司於2001年曾由分析師Mike Tyrell根據ESG的研究為匯豐銀行和花旗銀行提供選擇性投資服務。
莫斯科維茨將盡責投資的公司治理面向作為焦點。他的分析涉及公司的管理方式、股東關係以及員工受到的對待。他認為改善公司治理程序並不會損害財務表現,反而能最大限度提高生產力,保證企業效率,並能因此引進和運用優秀人才。在2000年代初期,受莫斯科維茨點名的公司因表現優異、招募員工便利和品牌聲譽,開始挑戰ESG因素會影響公司財務影響的刻板假設。[14]於2011年,時任賓州大學華頓商學院的金融學教授亞歷克斯·埃德曼斯(英语:Alex Edmans))在《金融經濟學雜誌(英语:Journal of Financial Economics)》上發表一篇論文,顯示"100家最適合工作的公司"於1984年至2009年期間的股票回報率每年比同儕高出2-3%。其獲利系統性地超出分析師的預期。[15]
人們更為相信人才庫越開放,雇主找到最適任者的機會就越大。[56]創新和敏捷性被視為多樣性所具的巨大優點,人們越來越意識到"多元的力量(The power of difference)"。[57]然而僅實施強制性多元化培訓並不足以讓公司為目標群體提供機會。研究發現公司越有意識去整合工作團隊,對多元化的員工團隊就會越開放。美國軍隊是種族和性別和諧共處的典型範例。[58]
基於處理ESG問題將可保護和提高投資組合回報的信念,盡責投資正迅速成為機構投資者的主流關注。截至2016年底,歐洲和亞太地區超過三分之一的機構投資者(通常稱為有限合夥人,limited partners(LP))表示,考慮ESG因素而在拒絕投資私募股權基金方面發揮主要作用,而在北美洲的機構投資者有五分之一也抱持同樣的看法。[106]私募股權和其他行業交易協會為回應投資者對ESG的興趣,已制定許多ESG最佳實踐,包括供私募基金經理和其他資產經理在投資投資組合公司之前使用盡責查證問卷。[107]
轉往納入ESG考量的投資於2019年下半年明顯加速。同期間"永續發展目標驅動投資"的概念在退休基金、主權財富基金和資產管理公司中更進一步紮根,特別是世界退休金理事會(The World Pensions council)等組織於2019年8月26日在法國南部比亞希茲舉行的七大工業國組織退休金圓桌會議,[108][109]以及於2019年8月19日在華盛頓哥倫比亞特區舉行的企業圓桌會議之後。[110]
致力於遏制氣候變化的機構投資者網絡已經出現,這類機構投資者願意對氣候行動目標負責。[111]其中一例是氣候變化機構投資者組織(Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change),此組織希望能在2030年實現淨零排放方面達到重大進展。[112]這些網絡還設計投資框架以"評估"企業淨零排放的進展,其中有一氣候行動100+(Climate Action 100+)框架,是一系列用於評估溫室氣體排放大戶的標準。[113]
赤道原則於2003年6月4日在華盛頓哥倫比亞特區正式推出,以國際金融公司制定的既有環境和社會政策架構為基礎。這些標準隨後被定期更新,成為通常提起的國際金融公司關於社會和環境永續性的績效標準以及世界銀行集團環境、健康和安全準則(World Bank Group Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines)。[118]
然而在某些地區,有一些規定要求特定類型的公司必須製作ESG報告。例如在印度,有一項名為BRSR(Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting,商業責任和永續發展報告)的監管要求,要求在證券交易所市值排名前1,000的公司必須提供,以確保其永續性和盡責實踐的透明度和揭露。[188]
根據紐約大學斯特恩永續商業中心(Stern Center for Sustainable Business) 於2021年發表的一份研究報告,該研究檢視1,000多項研究報告(於2015年至2020年期間發佈)。在公司營運績效方面有58%的研究顯示營運績效與ESG有正相關,13%顯示中性結果,21%顯示混合結果(正負相關混雜),而只有8%呈現負相關。但仍有"使用不同來源的資料,對不同公司給予不同形式的評分。"的複雜性。[205]
歐盟是引入ESG要求的先驅,例如最初適用於大公司的歐洲非財務揭露和多元化指令(European Directive on Non-Financial Disclosures and Diversity)。最近,該指令的擬議修訂將其範圍擴大到所有大型上市公司。雖然監管方面取得進展,但在ESG投資仍有透明度不足的問題。與缺乏透明度相關的問題具有多面性,首先是缺乏明確的全球標準導致ESG報告間有差異。公司在選擇揭露標準方面有相當大的自訂空間,導致報告存在異質性,而讓不同組織間的ESG績效難以比較。此外,其所使用的指標間的差異使得人們很難了解實際的永續性和社會責任績效。[218]
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