Pillar 6
Impact Measurement and Valuation

SGFIN develops tools to quantify and monetise sustainability impacts across climate, biodiversity and social inclusion, enabling stronger integration into investment and policy decisions. Using frameworks such as Integrated Return on Investment (IROI), this work supports firms and financiers in assessing the true value of sustainability outcomes across sectors, from SMEs to green buildings and energy transition, while improving transparency and capital allocation toward impactful projects.

SGFIN research on impact measurement and valuation advances rigorous methods for assessing environmental and social impacts of policies and investments. It develops frameworks to quantify climate, biodiversity and ecosystem benefits, employs economic valuation techniques, and advances standardised metrics and disclosure approaches that support transparent impact assessment, better decision-making and accountability in sustainable finance and policy contexts.

Keppel Bay Tower: Valuing What a Green Retrofit Delivers

Zhang, W., Jefferson, Zhang, F., Zhang, J., Or, F. X., Wong, E.Z.H., and Wong, S.J. (2026). Keppel Bay Tower: Valuing What A Green Retrofit Delivers, SGFIN-Keppel Case Study, National University of Singapore. https://sgfin.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/KBT-case-study.pdf

Mortgages, Subways & Automobiles

Agarwal, S., Chua, Y. H., Ghosh, P., Ghosh, S. K., & She, L. (2025). Mortgages, subways and automobiles. Journal of Public Economics, 252, Article 105522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105522

We examine how sustainable infrastructure investments affect household financial outcomes by studying the impact of subway expansions on mortgage repayment behavior in Delhi, India. Using administrative data from one of India’s largest mortgage lenders, we find that households in postal codes with newly opened stations experience a 4.42% decline in mortgage delinquency rate and a 1.38% increase in prepayment rate. Evidence from vehicle registration records suggests that these improvements are driven by reduced automobile reliance, with vehicle spending falling by 6.52%. The effects are most pronounced among financially constrained households, who cut back on low-quality vehicle purchases and exhibit the greatest gains in repayment performance.

Consumption Carbon Footprint: Singapore Case Study

Flavia Badarinza | Johannine Enerio | Devansh Joshi | Johan Sulaeman | Sumit Agarwal

2025

This whitepaper aims to provide an assessment of Singapore’s household consumption carbon footprint using the country-agnostic algorithm described in the SGFIN Whitepaper “Consumption Carbon Footprint: Country Level Data Framework”. It seeks to highlight carbon impacts across income groups and consumption categories while identifying pathways for footprint reduction and opportunities for carbon labelling and value-chain decarbonization.

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Just Transition Finance Challenges & Opportunities for the Early Retirement of Indonesia’s Coal-Fired Power Plants

Yuan, Y., Zhang, W., Aini, L.K., Budianto, K.F., Winayo, M.F., Jie, Y., Sulaeman, J., Lee, K.W.F., and J. Hamdani (2024). Just Transition Finance Challenges & Opportunities for the Early Retirement of Indonesia’s Coal-Fired Power Plants, SGFIN Industry Report #2, National University of Singapore. https://sgfin.nus.edu.sg/sgfin_industry_report-2/

Integrated Impact Valuation Framework for Green Buildings

Jefferson | Weina Zhang | Aaron Mueller | Chunyu Yang

2024

This whitepaper introduces SGFIN’s integrated impact valuation framework for green buildings: a comprehensive approach built on the harmonized impact indicators of 13 existing building certification standards and impact measurement frameworks. Our proposed framework integrates Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance (EESG) impacts into a unified monetary assessment model, providing a better understanding of the impact values created by green buildings.

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Stock Market Fluctuations & Health

Agarwal, S., Chen, S., He, H., Huang, X., & Li, T. (2024). Associations between stock market fluctuations and stress-related emergency room visits in China, Natural Mental Health 2, 909-915.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00267-5

Here we study the relationship between stock market fluctuations and emergency room visits in China. Using daily emergency room visit records from the three largest hospitals in Beijing from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012, we find that a one percentage point decrease in daily market returns (Growth Enterprises Index) is associated with 0.185 (P = 0.040, confidence interval (CI) = 0.009 to 0.361, or 0.7%) increased cases of cardiovascular diseases and 0.020 (P = 0.060, CI = 0 to −0.041, or 2.5%) increased cases of mental disorders on that day. Moreover, a one percentage point increase in daily market returns (Growth Enterprises Index) is associated with 0.035 (P = 0.007, CI = 0.010 to 0.059, or 3.3%) increase in cases of alcohol abuse on that day. The health effects are highly nonlinear, instantaneous and more salient for older people and males. By contrast, diseases that are less related to psychological stress (for example, infections and parasitic diseases) are not significantly affected by market fluctuations. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that a ten percentage point decrease in daily market returns is associated with an approximately RMB 35 million increase in national medical expenses related to emergency room services.