ESG - Environmental, Social and Governance

ESG: Myths and Realities is a collected essay series, edited by Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Steven Globerman, that provides a wide-ranging assessment of the environmental, social and governance movement—known as ESG. Among other considerations, the essays identify and consider the myriad issues that arise when publicly traded companies are directed by government legislation and regulations, or pressured by interest groups, to adopt a broad stakeholder framework rather than a shareholder (or investor) focused framework.

Two new essays in the Institute’s series on the myths and realities of the ESG movement, It’s Time to Move on from ESG and Putting Economics Back into ESG, find that imposing top-down ESG mandates will cause substantial harm to the economy and workers, and public policy objectives, such as those addressed by ESG initiatives, should be decided by and acted on by democratically elected governments, not private sector actors.

ESG Investing and Financial Returns in Canada finds that despite claims to the contrary, the ESG rankings of publicly-traded Canadian companies have no significant effect on investment returns.

ESG Disclosures and the Decision to Go Public is a new essay in the Institute's series on the ESG (environmental, social and governance) movement. It highlights how mandating ESG disclosures could discourage firms from entering public markets, thereby limiting entrepreneurial opportunities by making one of the main channels for accessing capital more expensive.