We provide the first evidence that conflicts of interest arising from commercial ties lead to bias in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings. Using the acquisitions of Vigeo Eiris and RobecoSAM by Moody's and S&P as shocks to the commercial ties between ESG rating agencies and their rated firms, we show that, after their acquisitions by the credit rating agencies (CRAs), ESG rating agencies issue higher ratings to existing paying clients of the CRAs. This effect is greater for firms that have more intensive business relationships with the CRAs, but weaker for firms with more transparent ESG disclosures or higher long‐term institutional ownership. The upwardly biased ESG ratings help client firms issue more green bonds and enable the CRAs to maintain credit rating business. Finally, the upwardly biased ESG ratings are less informative of future ESG news. Overall, the business incentives of rating providers appear to engender ESG rating bias.

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商业关系会影响 ESG 评级吗？来自穆迪和标准普尔的证据


我们提供了第一个证据，证明商业关系引起的利益冲突会导致环境、社会和治理 （ESG） 评级出现偏差。穆迪和标准普尔对 Vigeo Eiris 和 RobecoSAM 的收购是对 ESG 评级机构与其评级公司之间商业关系的冲击，我们表明，在它们被信用评级机构 （CRA） 收购后，ESG 评级机构向 CRA 的现有付费客户颁发更高的评级。这种影响对于与 CRA 有更紧密业务关系的公司来说更大，但对于具有更透明的 ESG 披露或更高的长期机构所有权的公司来说，这种影响较弱。向上倾斜的 ESG 评级有助于客户公司发行更多绿色债券，并使 CRA 能够维持信用评级业务。最后，向上倾斜的 ESG 评级对未来 ESG 新闻的信息量较小。总体而言，评级提供商的商业激励似乎会产生 ESG 评级偏差。