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  • Bruno and Henisz. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Outcomes and Municipal Credit Risk. 2024. Forthcoming at Business & Society. Published open access: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00076503231220541 

    • Abstract: We investigate the association between a wide range of community level environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes and the credit risk of US municipal finance fixed income securities. We develop a novel dataset of multiple ESG outcomes for US counties and connect it to a 2001-2020 panel of municipal bonds issued within those counties. Overall, we find supportive evidence that collective increases in community level ESG factors (i.e., ESG outcomes) are associated with reductions in credit risk for US municipal finance instruments over time. We theorize that these associations arise from variations in investor perceptions and manifested changes in fiscal health over time as a function of changing ESG outcomes. Post-hoc analyses leveraging quasi-exogenous shocks to uncertainty, as well as connecting ESG outcomes to various measures of fiscal health at the county-year level, and credit ratings at the bond-year level, help validate this theory. Our research suggests that even socially agnostic investors should investigate the environmental and social performance of a municipality as part of their credit due diligence. 

  • Atz, Van Holt, Liu, and Bruno. Does Sustainability Generate Better Financial Performance? Review, Meta-analysis, and Propositions. 2023. Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3708495 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3708495

    • Abstract: Sustainability in business and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) in finance have exploded in popularity among researchers and practitioners. We surveyed 1,141 primary peer-reviewed papers and 27 meta-reviews (based on ∼1,400 underlying studies) published between 2015 and 2020. Aggregate conclusions from a sample suggest that the financial performance of ESG investing has on average been indistinguishable from conventional investing (with one in three studies indicating superior performance) – in contrast with research in the wider management literature as well as industry reports. Until recently top finance journals did not publish climate change related studies, yet these studies capture the frontier of corporate risk and ESG investment strategies. We developed three propositions: first, ESG integration as a strategy seems to perform better than screening or divestment; second, ESG investing provides asymmetric benefits, especially during a social or economic crisis; and third, decarbonization strategies can potentially capture a climate risk premium.

Other peer-reviewed publications

  • Atz and Bruno. Locating the Future of ESG: The Promise of Geospatial Data in Advancing ESG Research. Sustainability and Climate Change. 2023.2-9. http://doi.org/10.1089/scc.2022.0110 

    • Abstract: This viewpoint surveys the environmental, social, governance (ESG) approach to sustainability at a time where it is simultaneously oversold and underestimated. We emphasize that ESG is not the same as sustainability. ESG can describe risks, opportunities, or simply preferences, and historically the process of turning soft information into hard data takes time. We suggest the frontier of ESG is location-based data, which can address some of the many shortcomings of firm-level ESG scores.

  • Bruno and Campbell. 2016. Students’ Willingness to Pay for More Local, Organic, Non-GMO and General Food Options. Journal of Food Distribution Research 47: 32–48. Available at https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/249998/files/3-Bruno-Campbell.pdf 

    • Abstract: As universities look to source “sustainable” products, it is critical to understand student demand and the economic feasibility of adding new sustainable products. Using an online survey in conjunction with a Tobit model we find that half of students in our sample are willing to pay more for increased local and organic food options with only a third willing to pay more for increased non-GMO options. The economic feasibility of adding new local, organic, and nonGMO options is questionable as charging students for their willingness to pay results in only a 1– 2% gain in revenue which may not cover the cost of more options in on-campus dining halls.