Asian Economic Policy Review最新文献

{"title":"Comment on “Inclusive Wealth and ESG Practices: Financial Impacts in a Global Context”","authors":"Yuxia Zou","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70012","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Xie et al. (<span>2026</span>) revisit the longstanding question of how corporate sustainability relates to financial performance and introduce inclusive wealth (IW)—a composite measure of produced, human, and natural capital—as a country-level moderator. Their study highlights the heterogeneity across countries and empirically documents that the association between sustainability and financial performance is positively moderated by IW. Below, I discuss how this study contributes to the literature, how prior analytical models help interpret the empirical findings, and several empirical caveats, as well as potential ways to address these concerns.</p><p>The most noteworthy contribution of this paper is the introduction of IW as a moderating factor in the sustainability–financial performance relationship. This adds to the growing empirical evidence that the financial implications of sustainability performance are contingent on the macro environment. Prior studies show, for instance, that abnormal returns to corporate sustainability performance depend on market sentiment (Naughton et al. <span>2018</span>), that the financial payoffs to corporate social responsibility are evident during the financial crisis (Lins et al. <span>2017</span>), and that socially responsible investing outperforms during economic booms but underperforms during recessions (Bansal et al. <span>2022</span>). By proposing IW as a moderator, Xie et al. (<span>2026</span>) add a novel construct that captures long-term resources and complements existing macro conditioning factors of the sustainability–financial performance relationship.</p><p>Analytical models suggest that the extent to which more sustainable firms deliver superior financial performance depends on the overall sustainability concerns and preferences in the market (Pedersen et al. <span>2020</span>; Pástor et al. <span>2021</span>). These analytical insights help interpret the different results for the return on assets (ROA) and Tobin's <i>Q</i> in Xie et al. (<span>2026</span>).</p><p>The association between sustainability performance and ROA can be read as reflecting customers' sustainability preferences. In economies with a high IW, especially those rich in natural capital, customers are more likely to favor sustainable products, hence raising the profitability of firms with superior sustainability performance. However, this does not apply to produced capital, which does not reflect customers' sustainability preferences and may even be negatively correlated with public sustainability awareness.</p><p>In comparison, the relationship between sustainability performance and Tobin's <i>Q</i> is more complex because market valuations aggregate several forces. A firm's share price not only reflects investors' sustainability preferences, but also the extent to which sustainability performance translates into profitability and the non-monetary utility investors derive from holding high sustainability firms. When IW im","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"39-40"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aepr.70012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146002481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comment on “Green Human Capital and Carbon Emissions of Asian Firms”","authors":"Charika Channuntapipat","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"98-99"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comment on “Beyond Green: Impacts of Green Bond Issuance on Conventional Bonds in China”","authors":"Konari Uchida","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70010","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using data from the Chinese bond market, Zhan et al. (<span>2026</span>) provide evidence that the yield spread on straight bonds significantly decreases following a firm's issuance of green bonds. This effect is particularly pronounced for firms headquartered in cities where the local government reports frequently employ environment-related terminology. Zhan et al. further show that green bond issuance increases the likelihood of bond rating upgrades. By carefully constructing a control sample—matching existing straight bonds of green bond issuers with comparable straight bonds of non-issuers—Zhan et al. (<span>2026</span>) offer compelling evidence that green bond issuance helps mitigate firms' environmental regulatory risks.</p><p>Flammer (<span>2021</span>), a seminal study in green bond research, shows that firms experience positive stock price reactions upon issuing green bonds. Flammer interprets this as evidence that green bond issuance signals a commitment to environmental protection. However, the mechanism by which such commitments enhance firm value is not clearly identified. Zhan et al. (<span>2026</span>) advance the literature by clarifying the specific content of this signal. While both expected cash flows and risk affect stock prices, bond spreads are particularly sensitive to risk, given the fixed-claim nature of debt. Leveraging this feature, Zhan et al. (<span>2026</span>) demonstrate that green bond issuance conveys information about reduced firm risk. Their interpretation is reinforced by the finding that operating cash flows do not significantly change around green bond issuance. I also value this study for providing further evidence consistent with the view that socially responsible behavior lowers risk and reduces the cost of debt (e.g., Goss and Roberts <span>2011</span>).</p><p>However, the mechanism through which green bond issuance reduces the risk of straight bonds remains subject to debate. Zhan et al. (<span>2026</span>) argue that green bond issuance mitigates environmental regulatory risk, citing evidence that the effect is stronger for firms headquartered in cities where government reports frequently use environment-related terms. While the frequent use of such terms may indeed reflect heightened attention to environmental issues, it is not necessarily a direct indicator of regulatory risk, as the authors do not control for the presence of regulation-specific language. For example, cities may issue longer reports on environmental matters in response to rising public awareness, irrespective of the actual stringency or enforcement of regulations. In such cases, non-green bond issuers in these cities might face higher business risks from declining sales due to consumer concerns over supply-chain emissions, rather than green bond issuers experiencing a direct reduction in risk. Moreover, the frequency of environment-related words may correlate with other city-level characteristics (e.g., local GDP). For instance, ","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"85-86"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aepr.70010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Sovereign Sustainable Bond Issuance Shakes Up the Corporate Sustainable Bond Market?: Evidence From Asian Markets","authors":"Seiwan Kim,&nbsp;Resi Ong Olivares,&nbsp;Donghyun Park,&nbsp;Shu (Grace) Tian,&nbsp;Sunjoo Yang","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70008","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study examines how sovereign sustainable bond issuance affects the yields and liquidity of corporate sustainable bonds in eight Asian markets. Using panel vector autoregression (VAR) and daily data from 2018 to 2024, we find that initial sovereign sustainable bond issuance improves corporate sustainable bond liquidity and reduces yield spreads in the medium term. We further find that this reduction is primarily driven by a persistent decline in greenium rather than a lower risk premium. Corporate sustainable bond issuance rises post-sovereign issuance, with more diverse issuers entering the market. Additionally, fund flows into ESG mutual funds increase, reflecting stronger demand for sustainable assets. Our findings highlight the positive role of sovereign issuance in scaling up private sustainable finance.</p><p><b>JEL Classification:</b> G12, C33, E43, Q54.</p>","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"57-67"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aepr.70008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inclusive Wealth and ESG Practices: Financial Impacts in a Global Context","authors":"Jun Xie,&nbsp;Kenichi Yoshida,&nbsp;Shuning Chen,&nbsp;Alexander Ryota Keeley,&nbsp;Hidemichi Fujii,&nbsp;Shunsuke Managi","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70006","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study explores the relationship between ESG practices and corporate financial outcomes across 38 economies from 2013 to 2022, with a focus on the moderating role of regional sustainability, proxied by inclusive wealth. The findings reveal significant disparities in ESG performance, with European firms leading globally while those in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, lag in ESG scores but exhibit stronger financial benefits from ESG engagement. Inclusive wealth plays a critical moderating role in the ESG-finance relationship, serving as key regional sustainability indicators. Specifically, human and natural capital positively moderate the financial impact of corporate environmental efforts. These results suggest that inclusive wealth captures structural conditions that shape ESG effectiveness and can inform region-specific sustainability strategies. This study highlights the importance of integrating long-term, multidimensional sustainability indicators into ESG evaluation frameworks to better align corporate strategies with economic and institutional contexts, thereby enhancing both firm performance and broader sustainable development outcomes.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"24-38"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond Green: Impacts of Green Bond Issuance on Conventional Bonds in China","authors":"Xintong Zhan,&nbsp;Junting Liu,&nbsp;Jie Cao,&nbsp;Ruijing Yang,&nbsp;Linyu Zhou","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70005","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper investigates the impact of green bond issuance on the yield spreads of conventional bonds in China. Using a sample of 1468 corporate bonds and a difference-in-differences methodology, we document a significantly persistent reduction of 21 basis points in the yield spreads of existing conventional bonds after the green bond issuance. Our findings support a risk-based explanation: green bond issuance mitigates the environmental regulatory risks faced by the issuer, thereby reducing the perceived default risk of its conventional bonds. These results highlight the broader financial implications of green bond issuance, extending beyond the direct environmental benefits to influence the pricing and risk profile of conventional debt instruments.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"72-82"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainable Finance: Tools, Effectiveness, and Challenges","authors":"Caroline Flammer","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70007","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article provides an overview of recent research on sustainable finance, focusing on the effectiveness, limitations, and challenges of key instruments used in green finance, biodiversity finance, blended finance, and impact investing. Drawing on empirical evidence and conceptual frameworks, this article highlights how these tools can contribute to environmental and social goals. It also examines the role of shareholders and corporate practices in advancing sustainability. In addition, this article discusses the Asian context, where institutional and economic conditions can create distinct opportunities and challenges for sustainable finance. Finally, the article concludes by emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary research given the complex nature of sustainability challenges.</p>\u0000 <p><b>JEL Classification:</b> G30, G32, M14, Q01, Q56</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"14-19"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comment on “The Effects of Financing Green and Brown Sectors: What Do Theories and Evidence Say?”","authors":"Qifei Zhu","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70003","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Liang and Punzi (&lt;span&gt;2026&lt;/span&gt;) argue that there are important distinctions between the strategy of “growing the green economy” and the strategy of “greening the economy” when it comes to the efficacy of the strategies and the financing tools supporting each strategy. Under the “growing the green economy” strategy, financial markets reallocate capital towards green companies and divert resources away from brown companies, typically through the cost-of-capital channel. Under the “greening the economy” strategy, financial markets develop tools to help brown companies transition their energy sources and production modes towards more sustainable ones. The relative efficacy of the strategies depends on things like the production functions of green and brown firms, their elasticities to financing costs, and the endowment of different economies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Liang and Punzi (&lt;span&gt;2026&lt;/span&gt;) then use a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to illustrate their points. In their model, firms raise external capital to transition from carbon-emitting energy sources to clean energy sources. Under the model's parameters, a reduction in green firms' cost of capital and an increase in brown firms' cost of capital do not necessarily reduce aggregate carbon emissions, as brown firms find it more difficult to raise capital to invest in transition. I see this DSGE exercise more as proof of concept for the theoretical framework laid out in the earlier part of the Liang and Punzi (&lt;span&gt;2026&lt;/span&gt;), rather than a piece of corroborating evidence. As brown firms are set in the model to all be able to transition towards clean energy, the strategy of “greening the economy” is given a larger scope to be effective. I would encourage the Liang and Punzi to think more seriously about the model and to either calibrate the model using empirical moments or to provide some analysis under different sets of parametrizations. Under some parametrizations, costs of capital differences between green and brown firms may lower aggregate emissions; under other parametrizations, they may backfire.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Liang and Punzi (&lt;span&gt;2026&lt;/span&gt;) in this current form stays away from discussing brown firms' incentives in transitioning towards greener production functions. An important rationale of the existing green financing tools is that they provide “carrots and sticks” for firms' green activities while penalizing brown ones. In contrast, the transition finance framework discussed here appears more permissive towards companies currently engaged in pollution-generating activities. This permissiveness creates a fundamental implementation challenge: without proper constraints, transition financing risks channeling funds towards business-as-usual operations rather than genuine greening efforts. Such misallocation would undermine sustainability objectives by effectively subsidizing brown activities under the guise of transition finance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Liang and Punzi's (&lt;span&gt;2026&lt;/span&gt;) pol","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"53-54"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/aepr.70003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Effects of Financing Green and Brown Sectors: What Do Theories and Evidence Say?","authors":"Hao Liang,&nbsp;Maria Teresa Punzi","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70004","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper critically examines the economic and welfare implications of financing green and brown sectors. Drawing on a comprehensive review of recent theoretical and empirical literature, we highlight that while conventional green finance—allocating capital toward environmentally friendly (“green”) sectors and away from carbon-intensive (“brown”) sectors—can promote decarbonization, it may also produce unintended externalities. In particular, it can inadvertently incentivize higher emissions from brown firms and contribute to economic disruption. Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model, we demonstrate that lowering the cost of capital for green sectors leads to only modest reductions in emissions, whereas raising it for brown sectors can paradoxically increase emissions. These findings underscore the importance of transition finance, which channels capital to support the decarbonization of brown sectors, especially in the context of Asia's carbon-intensive economies. We conclude with policy recommendations to strengthen transition finance markets across the region.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"43-52"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146016372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comment on “The Effects of Financing Green and Brown Sectors: What Do Theories and Empirical Evidence Say?”","authors":"Olivier-David Zerbib","doi":"10.1111/aepr.70002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/aepr.70002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45430,"journal":{"name":"Asian Economic Policy Review","volume":"21 1","pages":"55-56"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146007380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}