Library | Resource Types

Research

We summarise credible research and reports on sustainable finance and ESG issues. Our summaries, along with our AI ChatBot saves members time reading large reports, to focus on knowledge building and action.

Refine
Resource type
Sustainable Finance Practices
ESG issues
SDGs
SASB Sustainability Sector
Finance relevance
Asset Class
Location
TAG
1130 results
REFINE
SHOW: 16

Fiduciary duty in the 21st century final report

United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
This report summarises how integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is now a fundamental part of fiduciary duty. It finds that ESG issues are financially material, embedded in global regulation, and essential for prudent, loyal and transparent investment decisions by institutional investors.
Research
16 May 2022

From values to value: The commensuration of sustainability reporting and the crowding out of morality

This study examines the evolution of sustainability reporting in the Netherlands, showing how moral intentions of corporate responsibility became standardised and financialised. Through commensuration, sustainability shifted from ethical values to measurable economic indicators, leading to a “crowding out of morality” as reporting prioritised comparability, performance, and investor relevance over genuine moral purpose.
Research
1 March 2023

Principles for an effective wellbeing budget

Centre for Policy Development (CPD)
This report summarises principles for developing a wellbeing-focused federal budget in Australia. It recommends integrating wellbeing goals into policy and budgeting, strengthening data and accountability, investing in long-term and preventative analysis, enhancing public service capability, and ensuring ongoing community engagement to guide decision-making and measure progress.
Research
13 September 2022

The future of emissions

This report proposes using firm-level emission futures contracts to better measure and incentivise real environmental impact from ESG investing. It finds that current backward-looking ESG ratings fail to predict emission reductions and may misallocate capital to higher-polluting firms. Market-based, forward-looking emission futures could improve measurement, incentives, and investment impact.
Research
30 January 2024

ESG: A panacea for market power?

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This paper, “ESG: A Panacea for Market Power?” by Philip Bond and Doron Levit (2024), examines how firms’ social (“S”) ESG policies affect market competition. It finds that moderate ESG actions such as fairer treatment of workers or customers can reduce market power and improve welfare, while overly aggressive policies harm both firms and stakeholders. The authors show that competition in ESG policies among socially minded firms can deliver efficient, welfare-maximising outcomes, linking ESG adoption to market structure, corporate governance models, and executive incentives.
Research
4 April 2023

Impact-linked finance: Learning from eight years and ideas for the future

Roots of Impact
This report by Roots of Impact (2024) reviews eight years of experience implementing Impact-Linked Finance (ILF), a structuring approach that rewards measurable social or environmental outcomes by linking financial terms to impact performance. It outlines ILF’s evolution, design principles, effectiveness benchmarks, and opportunities to scale through collaboration and new impact-linked instruments.
Research
24 June 2024

How the concept of “Regenerative Good Growth” could help increase public and policy engagement and speed transitions to Net Zero and nature recovery

MDPI
The report introduces the concept of Regenerative Good Growth (RGG) as an alternative to extractive GDP-focused models. It argues that economic progress should regenerate five renewable capitals, natural, social, human, cultural, and sustainable physical, while ensuring fairness, engagement, and reduced environmental harm. RGG promotes inclusive, low-carbon, and nature-positive transitions through diverse public participation.
Research
22 January 2025

ESG and financial performance: Uncovering the relationship by aggregating evidence from 1,000 plus studies published between 2015 – 2020

NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business
This report summarises over 1,000 studies (2015–2020) and finds that most show a positive relationship between ESG and financial performance. ESG integration and long-term strategies tend to enhance returns and risk management, while disclosure alone has limited financial impact.
Research
2 November 2021

Outsourcing active ownership in Japan

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This report summarises private shareholder engagements in Japan by Governance for Owners Japan between 2009 and 2019. Findings show high success rates and positive abnormal returns, with quiet activism proving more effective than public campaigns. Evidence indicates such private engagements support Japan’s governance reforms and long-term shareholder value.
Research
14 July 2021

Volatile temperatures and their effects on equity returns and firm performance

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
This report summarises research on US firms’ exposure to temperature variability and its financial effects. It shows that volatile temperatures reduce profitability, affect consumer demand and labour productivity, and influence investor attention. Portfolios exposed to higher variability underperform, indicating temperature volatility is a material climate risk for firms and investors.
Research
6 December 2024

The economics of disclosure and financial reporting regulation: Evidence and suggestions for future research

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This report summarises empirical evidence on the economic effects of disclosure and financial reporting regulation. It reviews challenges in identifying causal relationships, assessing costs and benefits, and evaluating market-wide outcomes. The authors highlight limited conclusive evidence and propose priorities for future research to better inform policy and regulatory design.
Research
3 March 2016

Policy portfolios: Empowering long-term thinking and tactical flexibility

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
This report summarises how policy portfolios support long-term, multigenerational investment planning by balancing strategic discipline with tactical flexibility. It presents model portfolios for institutional and ultra-high-net-worth clients, emphasising client-specific customisation, risk management, and the integration of long-term capital market assumptions to guide portfolio construction and decision-making.
Research
27 March 2024

Exit versus voice

This report summarises research comparing the effectiveness of “exit” strategies, such as divestment and boycotts, with “voice” strategies, such as shareholder engagement, in influencing corporate behaviour. It concludes that when most investors are even slightly socially responsible, engagement leads to socially optimal outcomes, whereas exit rarely does and can reduce welfare.
Research
28 October 2022

Evaluation project on the effects of engagement

Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)
The report by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) evaluates how engagement by external asset managers has affected investee companies from 2017–2022. Using causal inference analysis across over 26,000 engagements, it finds positive links between engagement and improvements in corporate value, governance, decarbonisation, and diversity.
Research
27 June 2024

ESG shareholder engagement and downside risk

Oxford university press
This study analyses whether investor engagement on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues reduces firms’ downside risk. Using data from 1,443 engagements with 485 global firms (2005–2018), it finds that successful engagements, particularly on environmental and climate issues, significantly lower downside risk and related environmental incidents.
Research
6 March 2024

Coordinated engagements

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This report summarises analysis of 31 PRI-coordinated investor engagements on environmental and social issues between 2007 and 2015. It finds that leadership structures, particularly two-tier models with lead and supporting investors, enhance engagement success, improve target company performance, and are associated with higher subsequent fund flows for participating investors.
Research
16 March 2025
PREV
2 of 71
NEXT
Join or sign in to use Alma, Altiorem’s AI Agent. While the Altiorem library is free, Alma is exclusive to paying subscribers.