The effect of ESG factors on corporate credit rating
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Date
2023
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Accounting
Language
en
Pages
59
Series
Abstract
Since their establishment in the late 19th century, credit rating agencies have played a pivotal role in society by assessing the credit risk possessed by companies, securities, and sovereign states (Investopedia, 2022). This has further enhanced the transparency and reliability of the business world as several conclusions can be drawn by just looking at the assigned credit rating. In the 20th century, more and more research began to focus on analysing the constituents of credit risk and what factors affect the credit risk assessment process (Ubarhande and Chandadi, 2021). Along with credit rating-related research came the importance of understanding corporate sustainability and how it might affect the credit rating assigned to a company. Following the adoption of ESG factors in the early years of the 21st century, corporate sustainability was given concrete measures to look at when analysing it. Since then, an increasing number of studies have tried to examine the connection between ESG factors and credit risk. This thesis aims to complement previous literature by studying the effect different ESG (environmental, social and governance) dimensions have on a corporate credit rating. Compared to earlier literature, this thesis has used non-listed companies. By conducting a quantitative study using data given by Suomen Asiakastieto Oy, I have tried to test whether ESG factors are positively associated with an improved credit rating. Following the modifications on the dataset, the final set of data consisted of 20 590 credit ratings from the year 2021 as well as the corresponding ESG scores. In addition, control variables of EBIT margin, current ratio, equity ratio, industry code and size of revenue were used. By computing correlation coefficients and running five different regressions in Stata statistical software, the regression results showed that all ESG factors were positively associated with the credit rating by having a p-value between 0.01-0.05. In other words, the inclusion of ESG factors to credit rating assessment improved the assigned credit rating. Furthermore, control variables of industry codes, current ratio and equity ratio were also found to affect the credit rating. However, unlike many previous papers have discovered, such as Altman (1968), EBIT margin and size of revenue did not affect the credit ratings used in this thesis. The author acknowledges the limitations present in the study and the need for further research by using a larger set of different company types as well as by having a wider geographical and timely focus. This would help in discovering whether ESG factors’ effect on a credit rating is prone to e. g. geopolitical tensions, economic cycles, or natural disasters.Description
Thesis advisor
Ikäheimo, SeppoKeywords
ESG, credit rating, credit risk, corporate sustainability