IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/buseth/v32y2023i2p713-741.html

The impact at stake: Risk and return in publicly listed social impact firms

Author

Listed:
  • Emanuela Giacomini
  • Nicoletta Marinelli
  • Luca Riccetti

Abstract

This study investigates the risk and return characteristics of impact investing in the public equity market. We use a unique hand‐collected dataset of 50 US listed firms whose product (or service) addresses at least one of the global social and environmental challenges, as defined by the United Nations Social Development Goals (SDGs). We designate such firms Impact Firms, and we compare their financial performance to a matched sample of Non‐Impact Firms in the time span 2002–2019. Our results show that Impact and Non‐Impact Firms have similar level of financial performance and both volatility and systemic risk over the entire sample period. At the same time, Impact Firms show a slightly lower negative skewness of the returns over the entire sample period, but not during crisis periods. However, compared to matched Non‐Impact Firms, Impact Firms outperform during periods of market crisis, generating a valuable dampening of downside risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuela Giacomini & Nicoletta Marinelli & Luca Riccetti, 2023. "The impact at stake: Risk and return in publicly listed social impact firms," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 713-741, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:buseth:v:32:y:2023:i:2:p:713-741
    DOI: 10.1111/beer.12511
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12511
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/beer.12511?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gunnar Friede & Timo Busch & Alexander Bassen, 2015. "ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 210-233, October.
    2. Becchetti, Leonardo & Ciciretti, Rocco & Hasan, Iftekhar & Kobeissi, Nada, 2012. "Corporate social responsibility and shareholder's value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1628-1635.
    3. Ioannis Oikonomou & Chris Brooks & Stephen Pavelin, 2012. "The Impact of Corporate Social Performance on Financial Risk and Utility: A Longitudinal Analysis," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 483-515, June.
    4. Chen, Zhongfei & Xie, Guanxia, 2022. "ESG disclosure and financial performance: Moderating role of ESG investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Leonardo Becchetti & Rocco Ciciretti & Ambrogio Dalò & Stefano Herzel, 2015. "Socially responsible and conventional investment funds: performance comparison and the global financial crisis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(25), pages 2541-2562, May.
    6. Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Castriota & Ermanno Tortia, 2013. "Productivity, wages and intrinsic motivations," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 379-399, August.
    7. Umar, Zaghum & Kenourgios, Dimitris & Papathanasiou, Sypros, 2020. "The static and dynamic connectedness of environmental, social, and governance investments: International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 112-124.
    8. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    9. Anna Höchstädter & Barbara Scheck, 2015. "What’s in a Name: An Analysis of Impact Investing Understandings by Academics and Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 449-475, December.
    10. Massimo Biasin & Roy Cerqueti & Emanuela Giacomini & Nicoletta Marinelli & Anna Grazia Quaranta & Luca Riccetti, 2019. "Macro Asset Allocation with Social Impact Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Renneboog, Luc & Ter Horst, Jenke & Zhang, Chendi, 2008. "The price of ethics and stakeholder governance: The performance of socially responsible mutual funds," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 302-322, June.
    12. Watts, Natasha & Scales, Ivan R., 2020. "Social impact investing, agriculture, and the financialisation of development: Insights from sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    13. C. Edward Chang & Walt A. Nelson & H. Doug Witte, 2012. "Do green mutual funds perform well?," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(8), pages 693-708, July.
    14. C. Edward Chang & Walt A. Nelson & H. Doug Witte, 2012. "Do green mutual funds perform well?," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(8), pages 693-708, July.
    15. Bouslah, Kais & Kryzanowski, Lawrence & M’Zali, Bouchra, 2013. "The impact of the dimensions of social performance on firm risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1258-1273.
    16. Amir Amel-Zadeh & George Serafeim, 2018. "Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey," Financial Analysts Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(3), pages 87-103, July.
    17. Fernando Muñoz & Maria Vargas & Isabel Marco, 2014. "Environmental Mutual Funds: Financial Performance and Managerial Abilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(4), pages 551-569, November.
    18. Scott, Robert C & Horvath, Philip A, 1980. "On the Direction of Preference for Moments of Higher Order Than the Variance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(4), pages 915-919, September.
    19. Paul A. Samuelson, 1970. "The Fundamental Approximation Theorem of Portfolio Analysis in terms of Means, Variances and Higher Moments," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 37(4), pages 537-542.
    20. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    21. Kimball, Miles S, 1990. "Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 53-73, January.
    22. Li, Xianghong & Zhao, Xinlei, 2006. "Propensity score matching and abnormal performance after seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 351-370, June.
    23. Y. Peter Chung & Michael J. Schill, 2006. "Asset Pricing When Returns Are Nonnormal: Fama-French Factors versus Higher-Order Systematic Comoments," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(2), pages 923-940, March.
    24. Hua Fan, John & Michalski, Lachlan, 2020. "Sustainable factor investing: Where doing well meets doing good," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 230-256.
    25. C. Edward Chang & Walt A. Nelson & H. Doug Witte, 2012. "Do green mutual funds perform well?," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(8), pages 693-708, July.
    26. Kim, Yongtae & Li, Haidan & Li, Siqi, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility and stock price crash risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-13.
    27. Louis Eeckhoudt & Harris Schlesinger, 2006. "Putting Risk in Its Proper Place," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 280-289, March.
    28. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    29. Meir Statman, 2000. "Socially Responsible Mutual Funds (corrected)," Financial Analysts Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 30-39, May.
    30. Nofsinger, John & Varma, Abhishek, 2014. "Socially responsible funds and market crises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 180-193.
    31. Migliavacca, Milena & Patel, Ritesh & Paltrinieri, Andrea & Goodell, John W., 2022. "Mapping impact investing: A bibliometric analysis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    32. Nakai, Miwa & Yamaguchi, Keiko & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2016. "Can SRI funds better resist global financial crisis? Evidence from Japan," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 12-20.
    33. Bernal, Oscar & Hudon, Marek & Ledru, François-Xavier, 2021. "Are impact and financial returns mutually exclusive? Evidence from publicly-listed impact investments," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 93-112.
    34. Colasante, Annarita & Riccetti, Luca, 2020. "Risk aversion, prudence and temperance: It is a matter of gap between moments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    35. Alexander Haering & Timo Heinrich & Thomas Mayrhofer, 2020. "Exploring The Consistency Of Higher Order Risk Preferences," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 61(1), pages 283-320, February.
    36. James Heckman & Salvador Navarro-Lozano, 2004. "Using Matching, Instrumental Variables, and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 30-57, February.
    37. Federica Ielasi & Monica Rossolini, 2019. "Responsible or Thematic? The True Nature of Sustainability-Themed Mutual Funds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.
    38. Duong Nguyen & Suchismita Mishra & Arun Prakash & Dilip K. Ghosh, 2007. "Liquidity And Asset Pricing Under The Three‐Moment Capm Paradigm," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 30(3), pages 379-398, September.
    39. David A. Sauer, 1997. "The impact of social‐responsibility screens on investment performance: Evidence from the Domini 400 social index and Domini Equity Mutual Fund," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(2), pages 137-149.
    40. Ho, Daniel E. & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 199-236, July.
    41. Kraus, Alan & Litzenberger, Robert H, 1976. "Skewness Preference and the Valuation of Risk Assets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 31(4), pages 1085-1100, September.
    42. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    43. Maarten Holtslag & Nicolas Chevrollier & Andre Nijhof, 2021. "Impact investing and sustainable market transformations: The role of venture capital funds," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 522-537, October.
    44. Nofsinger, John R. & Sulaeman, Johan & Varma, Abhishek, 2019. "Institutional investors and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 700-725.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlos Estevez‐Mendoza & Juan Infante, 2025. "Evolution and relevance of research on Environmental, Social, and Governance factors," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 1545-1566, March.
    2. Hooi Hooi Lean & Fabio Pizzutilo, 2021. "Performances and risk of socially responsible investments across regions during crisis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3556-3568, July.
    3. Staněk Gyönyör, Lucie & Horváth, Matúš & Stašek, Daniel & Stachoň, Martin, 2025. "The role of ESG factor in stock clustering based on risk-return-liquidity dimensions," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Staněk Gyönyör, Lucie & Horváth, Matúš, 2024. "Does ESG affect stock market dependence? An empirical exploration of S&P 1200 companies shows the divergent nature of E–S–G pillars," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Ved Dilip Beloskar & S. V. D. Nageswara Rao, 2024. "Screening activity matters: Evidence from ESG portfolio performance from an emerging market," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 2593-2619, July.
    6. Hooi Hooi Lean & Fabio Pizzutilo & Kimberly Gleason, 2023. "Portfolio performance implications of investment in renewable energy equities: Green versus gray," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 2990-3005, November.
    7. Lambert, M. & Hübner, G., 2013. "Comoment risk and stock returns," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 191-205.
    8. Chang, Shun-Fen & Chen, Bai-Sian & Chen, Hong-Yi & Chen, Hsiao-Yin, 2025. "The impact of ESG ratings on firm risks in Taiwan's market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    9. Helen Chiappini & Gianfranco Vento & Leonardo De Palma, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Sustainable Indexes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    10. Bernal, Oscar & Hudon, Marek & Ledru, François-Xavier, 2021. "Are impact and financial returns mutually exclusive? Evidence from publicly-listed impact investments," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 93-112.
    11. Lagan Jindal, 2025. "Performance and investment styles of green mutual funds: a cross-country analysis," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(7), pages 725-740, December.
    12. Łukasz Dopierała & Magdalena Mosionek-Schweda & Daria Ilczuk, 2020. "Does the Asset Allocation Policy Affect the Performance of Climate-Themed Funds? Empirical Evidence from the Scandinavian Mutual Funds Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    13. Juan Carlos Matallín-Sáez & Amparo Soler-Domínguez & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2016. "Ethical strategy focus and mutual fund management: performance and persistence," Working Papers 2016/01, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    14. Lestari, Jenjang Sri & Frömmel, Michael, 2024. "Socially responsible investments: doing good while doing well in developed versus emerging markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    15. Juan Carlos Matallín-Sáez & Amparo Soler-Domínguez & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2016. "Does socially responsible mutual fund performance vary over the business cycle? New insights on the role of ethical strategy focus and green industry idiosyncratic risk," Working Papers 2016/03, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    16. Leite, Paulo & Cortez, Maria Céu, 2015. "Performance of European socially responsible funds during market crises: Evidence from France," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 132-141.
    17. François-Éric Racicot & Raymond Théoret, 2009. "Integrating volatility factors in the analysis of the hedge fund alpha puzzle," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 37-62, April.
    18. Chabi-Yo, Fousseni & Leisen, Dietmar P.J. & Renault, Eric, 2014. "Aggregation of preferences for skewed asset returns," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 453-489.
    19. Sheeba Kapil & Vrinda Rawal, 2023. "Sustainable investment and environmental, social, and governance investing: A bibliometric and systematic literature review," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 1429-1451, October.
    20. Yang, Sharon S. & Huang, Jr-Wei & Chen, Hong-Yi & Tsay, Min-Hung, 2025. "Detecting corporate ESG performance: The role of ESG materiality in corporate financial performance and risks," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:buseth:v:32:y:2023:i:2:p:713-741. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/26946424 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.