L'impatto dell'ESG Score sui premi pagati nelle transazioni di M&A: uno studio dell'impatto delle politiche CSR sulla considerazione pagata nel mercato M&A Europeo e Americano fra il 2018 e il 2021

This research has the objective to analyze the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility policies on the premia paid in M&A transactions. The ESG score will be used as a metric to gauge the CSR level of implementation, and the focus will be on the period between 2018-2021. We consider this time frame a very interesting one to analyze first of all because Corporate Social Responsibility is a well-established and acknowledged concept that has taken roots in the business encyclopedia and does not represent a new entry anymore in the business world. Furthermore, we have to recognize the importance of these policies in the light of the social issues brought by the pandemic and in relation to the accelerated commitment to the carbon neutrality of an always-increasing number of countries, especially with the comeback under Biden’s administration of the United States rejoining the Paris Agreement in 2021 after the withdrawal announced in 2017 and effective in 2020(1). Despite the U.S. representing the biggest market in the world under the M&A perspective, we decided to take into account the European context also when considering the subject relevance as the objective is to find a common denominator, and the analysis is not intended to be limited by the geographical footprint