In this study, we explore whether and to what extent Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors impact banks’ funding costs. Using a sample composed of 493 banks located in 39 advanced and emerging economies over the 2003–2020 period, we find that banks benefit from incorporating ESG practices into financial decisions, enjoying lower costs of raising interest-bearing liabilities (total cost of funds), as well as reduced costs of attracting deposits. All ESG dimensions are responsible for this outcome in the case of total cost of funds, whereas for the cost of deposits the Environmental pillar appears to have an insignificant impact, suggesting that depositors do not value banks' environmental commitments, but rather their social performance and corporate governance quality. Furthermore, the empirical evidence indicates that only large banks and those located in developed countries reap the benefits of increased ESG performance in terms of reduced financing costs.

中文翻译：

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ESG 绩效与银行融资成本


在本研究中，我们探讨环境、社会和治理 (ESG) 因素是否以及在多大程度上影响银行的融资成本。使用 2003 年至 2020 年期间 39 个发达经济体和新兴经济体的 493 家银行组成的样本，我们发现银行受益于将 ESG 实践纳入财务决策，享受较低的计息负债成本（资金总成本），以及降低吸引存款的成本。在资金总成本的情况下，所有 ESG 维度都对这一结果负有责任，而对于存款成本，环境支柱似乎没有显着影响，这表明存款人并不看重银行的环境承诺，而是看重他们的社会绩效和公司治理质量。此外，经验证据表明，只有大型银行和发达国家的银行才能从融资成本降低方面受益于 ESG 绩效的提高。