How does the European stock market react to sustainability? : An empirical analysis of the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index

Abstract: Background: The increase in development and welfare that has been achieved in recent decades has led to a deterioration of the planet. Increased awareness on this matter has led to a concern to become more sustainable, both on an individual level and firm level. The concept of sustainable development integrates consideration to economic growth, protection of the environment, and social justice. Firms have sustainability regulations they must follow to be allowed to operate, but when they go beyond their economic interests it is referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Certain indexes select which firms to include based on their CSR performance. In this way, firms can use CSR to build a reputation. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate if inclusion in or exclusion from Dow Jones Sustainability Europe (DJSEUR) index has a significant effect on a firm’s stock price. The sub-purpose of this study is to investigate if different sector characteristics significantly impact the investors’ response to inclusion and exclusion. The study is conducted on firms in the European region. Methods: The event study methodology was used to examine abnormal returns associated with inclusion in and exclusion from a sustainability stock index. Further, a linear regression was developed to distinguish if sector affiliation affects the reactions of investors when firms are included or excluded from the index. This study uses stock data for firms over a period of time from 2014-2019. Results: The results suggest no significant increase in CAAR from being included in the index. However, exclusion from the index significantly affected CAAR negatively on the day of the announcement. Five sectors experienced a significantly different CAAR from the event of exclusion from the index. Only the result from one sector indicated to be significantly affected by the event of inclusion in the index. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence that being removed from the DJSEUR results in a decrease in a firm’s share price, suggesting that the European stock market penalizes firms for not obtaining a sufficiently high level of CSR. But investors do not financially reward firms for inclusion in the DJSEUR index. Implying that investors in the European stock market expect firms to implement CSR but do not reward them financially. Therefore, managers need to satisfy the pressure from various stakeholders, including shareholders, while trying to maximize stock value.