Short- and long-run cross-border European sustainability interdependences

The increasing interest in climate change risks, environmental degradation, corporate social responsibility, and ESG (environmental, social, governance) principles has motivated the recent soaring focus of policymakers, market practitioners, and academics on sustainable investments. In this vein, we investigate the cross-country interconnectedness among sustainability equity indices. Using a bivariate DCC-MIDAS (Dynamic Conditional Correlations - Mixed Data Sampling) specification, we study the short- and long-run time-varying dependence dynamics between European and five international (Australia, Brazil, Japan, US, and Canada) sustainability benchmarks. Our cross-country dynamic correlation analysis identifies the interdependence types and hedging characteristics in the short- and long-run across the business cycle. The significant macro- and crisis-sensitivity of the sustainability correlation pattern unveils strong countercyclical cross-country sustainability interlinkages for most index pairs and crisis periods. We further reveal the high- and low-frequency contagion transmitters or interdependence drivers in the macro environment during the 2008 global financial turmoil, the European sovereign debt crisis, and the recent pandemic-induced crash. Finally, we demonstrate that climate change risks and policy considerations are potent catalysts for both countercyclical and procyclical cross-border sustainability spillovers.