ESG and Investing in China and the United States

(E)nvironment, (S)ocial and (G)overance issues are typically analyzed in the context of the United States. This is a limited perspective. All societies face similar questions with respect to the environment and social relations. In this paper, we widen the perspective by comparing ESG in China and the United States. A focus of our analysis is the question originally posed by Milton Friedman regarding how much authority over issues such as social and environmental policies should be transferred to corporations. We also investigate the implications for investors of ESG policies in both countries