ESG Disclosure and the Market Confidence in the Emerging REITs Market of Europe-Asia-Pacific Region
The research paper examines the relationship between the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure level of the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and the market confidence towards it, particularly in the emerging REITs market of Europe-Asia-Pacific Region. The research applies historical Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ESG public disclosure data and the financial data from Standard & Poor's 500 Market Intelligence Database, from 2017 to 2021. The market confidence is reflected by two parameters: cost of capital and the premium of market valuation. The research found that REITs with higher GRESB ESG disclosure scores tend to have a lower interest-to-debt ratio, suggesting a more stable debt structure, as well as a higher firm Q. A higher ESG grade may be associated with increasing WACC because firms might rely more on equity financing, perceived as more sustainable but costlier than debt—thus raising their overall capital cost. These results indicate stronger market confidence in the firm market financing and valuation. The research also finds out these relationships are not uniformly strong across all regions. The effect is more pronounced in Asia, while results for Europe and Oceania show weaker or statistically insignificant associations. Furthermore, forward-looking regression denies the lag effect of the impact of ESG disclosure on market confidence, implying the investor may not attach great importance to the historical ESG disclosure practice in the decision-making process.