Is Capital Structure Irrelevant with ESG Investors?
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Feldhutter, Peter; Pedersen, Lasse Heje
署名单位：
Copenhagen Business School; Copenhagen Business School
刊物名称：
REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
ISSN/ISSBN：
0893-9454
DOI：
10.1093/rfs/hhae059
发表日期：
2025
页码：
2362
关键词：
摘要：
This paper examines whether capital structure is irrelevant for enterprise value and investment when investors care about environmental, social, and governance issues, which we refer to as ESG-Modigliani-Miller (ESG-MM). Theoretically, we show that ESG-MM holds with linear pricing and additive ESG. ESG-MM means that issuing low-yielding green bonds does not lower the overall cost of capital because it makes the issuer's other securities browner. Hence, a firm's incentive to make a green investment does not depend on its financing choice. We provide suggestive evidence of failure of ESG-MM, implying that firms and governments can exploit inconsistent ESG attribution or segmented markets.