October 2nd,2024 at Waseda University
On October 2nd, 2024, the Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management (RIEEM) hosted an international symposium titled “Symposium on Sustainable Finance: A Comparison of Japan and Germany”. It explored sustainable finance and tackled topics such as investor characteristics and willingness to invest, providing a platform for discussion among experts from various countries. The event gathered academic experts from Waseda University, Japan, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Kassel, Germany. Additionally, experts from the German Institute for Japanese Studies and SMBC Nikko Securities also attended the symposium as discussants. This symposium is a result of the ongoing academic collaboration between Waseda University and the University of Kassel, which was fostered by Prof. Andreas Ziegler (University of Kassel) and Prof. Toshi H. Arimura (Waseda University, head of RIEEM).
Sustainable finance plays a crucial role in advancing sustainable development goals and has attracted widespread attention from governments and researchers globally. Understanding investor characteristics, their willingness to invest in sustainable financial products, and potential methods to promote sustainable finance is important.
Prof. Gunnar Gutsche (University of Kassel) opened the symposium with the first presentation, titled “Sustainable investment among retail investors in Japan” in collaboration with Prof. Miwa Nakai (Fukui Prefectural University), discussing the awareness of sustainable investments, the barriers to planned sustainable investing, and support for potential solutions. His team conducted surveys on financial decision-makers in households with investment experience or knowledge in both Japan and Germany. His research shows that the awareness and share of sustainable investments in Japan is lower compared to Germany. More or better information, guidance, and financial education could be a potential solution to bridge the gap between the two countries.
Then, Prof. Paul Smeets (University of Amsterdam) followed with a presentation titled “Willingness to pay for sustainable investments”. He crafted a series of social experiments for sustainable investment in five European countries and investigated whether financial literacy influences investors’ fee sensitivity. His findings highlight that financial literacy is a key driver of fee sensitivity. Attention and wrongful expectations on the rate of return could explain why low-literate investors are less sensitive to fees. In addition, he found that the inclusion of ESG funds in the investment menu further reduces fee sensitivity among investors with lower financial literacy. In conclusion, investors' understanding of fees remains a critical challenge for promoting sustainable investments.
The symposium concluded with a discussion with Prof. Franz Waldenberger (German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo), Prof. Ryuichiro Ishikawa (Waseda University), and Mr. Keiichi Ito (SMBC NIKKO) as the discussants. We also had a lively discussion and exchange with the general audience.
