@article {Ben Dorjfds.2021.1.082, author = {Arik Ben Dor and Jingling Guan and Adam Kelleher and Adam Lauretig and Ryan Preclaw and Xiaming Zeng}, title = {ESG and Alternative Data: Capturing Corporates{\textquoteright} Sustainability-Related Activities with Job Postings}, elocation-id = {jfds.2021.1.082}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.3905/jfds.2021.1.082}, publisher = {Institutional Investor Journals Umbrella}, abstract = {The emergence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing resulted in a flurry of studies examining the effects of incorporating ESG considerations on portfolio performance. Limited attention, however, was given to analyzing corporate activities related to ESG and sustainability. The authors employ a novel dataset of over 200 million job postings by US firms since 2014 and use natural language processing to identify ESG-related openings and assess companies{\textquoteright} planned ESG activities. Using the job postings data allows one to learn about and monitor planned sustainability-related corporate activities based on firms{\textquoteright} actions, rather than relying solely on their announcements (i.e., what firms do as opposed to what firms say they do). The authors find that ESG job posting data can serve as a leading indicator of future changes in firms{\textquoteright} ESG ratings. Firms with higher abnormal ESG hiring posting intensity were more likely to experience subsequent rating improvements and enjoyed better stock performance 2{\textendash}3 years following the posting date.}, issn = {2640-3943}, URL = {https://jfds.pm-research.com/content/early/2021/12/10/jfds.2021.1.082}, eprint = {https://jfds.pm-research.com/content/early/2021/12/10/jfds.2021.1.082.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Financial Data Science} }