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Does responsible investing pay during economic downturns: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

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  • Omura, Akihiro
  • Roca, Eduardo
  • Nakai, Miwa

Abstract

We investigate the performance of SRI/ESG investments against conventional investments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although previous studies have examined the performance of SRI during financial crises, little is known about their performance during the COVID-19 crisis. Applying asset-pricing models, we analyze returns, abnormal returns, and the Sharpe ratio of the ESG ETFs in the US and the MSCI SRI indices for the world, the US, Japan, and Europe before and during the pandemic period vis-à-vis conventional investments. Our results confirm the greater outperformance of SRI indices during the pandemic. These findings have academic and practical implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Omura, Akihiro & Roca, Eduardo & Nakai, Miwa, 2021. "Does responsible investing pay during economic downturns: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:42:y:2021:i:c:s1544612320317281
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2020.101914
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    2. Arfaoui, Nadia & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Boubaker, Sabri & Mirza, Nawazish & Karim, Sitara, 2023. "Interdependence of clean energy and green markets with cryptocurrencies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    3. Xin Xu & Yi Xie & Feng Xiong & Yan Li, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Investors’ Investment Intention of Sustainability-Related Investment: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-37, April.
    4. Roy Cerqueti & Rocco Ciciretti & Ambrogio Dalò & Marco Nicolosi, 2022. "Mitigating Contagion Risk by ESG Investing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    5. Mirza, Nawazish & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Ha Nguyen, Thi Thu & Arfaoui, Nadia & Oliyide, Johnson A., 2023. "Are sustainable investments interdependent? The international evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Perote, Javier & Vicente-Lorente, José D. & Zuñiga-Vicente, Jose Angel, 2023. "How reactive is investment in US green bonds and ESG-eligible stocks in times of crisis? Exploring the COVID-19 crisis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2022. "Sustainable mutual fund performance and flow in the recent years through the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Tenuta, Paolo & Cambrea, Domenico Rocco, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance: The role of executive directors in family firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    9. López Prol, Javier & Kim, Kiwoong, 2022. "Risk-return performance of optimized ESG equity portfolios in the NYSE," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    10. Konstantinos Petridis & Nikolaos Kiosses & Ioannis Tampakoudis & Fouad Ben Abdelaziz, 2023. "Measuring the efficiency of mutual funds: Does ESG controversies score affect the mutual fund performance during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1-29, September.
    11. Dumitrescu, Ariadna & Järvinen, Jesse & Zakriya, Mohammed, 2023. "Hidden Gem or Fool’s Gold: Can passive ESG ETFs outperform the benchmarks?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. Klinkowska, Olga & Zhao, Yuan, 2023. "Fund flows and performance: New evidence from retail and institutional SRI mutual funds," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Díaz, Antonio & Esparcia, Carlos & López, Raquel, 2022. "The diversifying role of socially responsible investments during the COVID-19 crisis: A risk management and portfolio performance analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 39-60.
    14. Samreen Hamid & Asif Saeed & Umar Farooq & Faisal Alnori, 2022. "A Bibliometric Retrospection of CSR from the Lens of Finance and Economics: Towards Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-25, December.
    15. Budi Wahyono, 2022. "The value of political connections and Sharia compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(1), pages 1-28, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; ESG; SRI; MSCI; ETF; Financial crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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