The Materiality Challenge of ESG Ratings

Abstract

Research purpose. The ESG literature supports a positive correlation between a firm’s ESG performance and its financial performance; however, the details of this relationship are ambiguous, which has led to conflicting results in the literature. This article asserts that this ambiguity is largely related to the fact that ESG studies rarely consider the important issue of materiality. This article is an expanded replication of analysis by Williams ---amp--- Apollonio (2022), a study that called for deeper analysis of both materiality and the causal link between ESG ratings and financial performance.

Keywords

• esg materiality
• abnormal returns
• industry classification
• g11