Is Capital Structure Irrelevant with ESG Investors?

Abstract

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.