Industry Differences in ESG Risk: An Analysis Using Morningstar Sustainalytics Data

Environmental, social and governance factors have become increasingly important for investors, businesses and policymakers, particularly in the context of reducing information asymmetry and promoting sustainable business models. The study analysed differences in the level of environmental, social and governance risk across industries, ranked them by risk level and identified groups of industries with similar levels of risk. The aim of the study was to statistically verify the existence of differences across industries, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the distribution of risk across industries and supporting informed decision-making by relevant actors. The analysis was based on a database containing data on the risk level of 13,355 companies operating in 41 industries of the global economy. The data were obtained from the Morningstar Sustainalytics database. Non-parametric statistical methods were used to verify differences across industries. The robustness of the identified grouping structure was additionally verified using hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of pairwise comparisons showed statistically significant differences across industries. Based on these findings, industries were systematically arranged into nine groups according to risk level, from lowest to highest risk. The results provided a clear classification of industries and highlighted the existence of significant differences in risk levels across industries.