Corporate Social Responsibility and Bank Risk

Abstract

In light of climate change, the concept of sustainable banking has recently experienced significant development. Extant literature on sustainability finds that corporate social responsibility reduces idiosyncratic firm risk. However, it remains unclear whether the risk-reduction stems from the environmental, social, or governance pillar. We investigate the origins and effect drivers, by analysing a sample of 2,452 banks from 115 countries over the period from 2002 to 2018. As a result, we identify the environmental pillar and its sub-components as the significant determinants.

Keywords: Bank Risk, Default Risk, Portfolio Risk, Sustainability Risk, CSR, ESG

JEL Classification: G21; G32; M14; Q56