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Listed companies have become increasingly aware not only of the importance of being socially responsible but also about reporting their initiatives in this field. Existing research has investigated many of the impacts of the sustainable profile of companies on a wide range of financial dimensions. The link between the cost of equity and sustainability is extremely timely as it can have great potential in reinforcing good practices regarding sustainable engagement amongst listed companies, which can also be regarded as trendsetters by other types of companies and institutions. This paper presents a thorough literature review of 22 articles focused on the link between sustainability and the cost of capital. The main contribution of this study is the broad scope of the literature review not only regarding the number of papers revised but also the provided details and their systematisation, such that future researchers in the field can easily identify the references regarding, for instance, different theoretical approaches. The methodologies that have been used to test the hypotheses as well as how the cost of equity is proxied by the different authors is presented together with the independent variables for measuring the sustainable profile of companies as well as the control variables. Our literature review also pays special attention to the different regional settings where research has examined the link between the cost of equity and sustainability and presents new ideas for studies in the field in order to open up future avenues for research.

Keywords: cost of equity; CSR; sustainability; literature review