Socially responsible investment and market performance: the case of energy and resource companies.

Brzeszczyński, Janusz; Ghimire, Binam; Jamasb, Tooraj; McIntosh, Graham

Abstract

Do financial markets reward the energy and resource companies for adopting socially responsible practices? In this study, we investigate the stock market performance of major international energy and resource firms, classified within the socially responsible investment (SRI) category, from 2005 to 2016. We simulate investments in the portfolios of the SRI energy and resource companies stocks during this 11-year period and we further assess their risk-adjusted performance. The returns of the energy and resource SRI portfolio as a whole were neither consistently superior nor inferior to those of the benchmark indices. However, there exist substantial differences across the individual sub-sectors. The overall results show that markets do not reward or penalize the energy and resource firms for their SRI attitudes. We also find that the crude oil price consistently had a significant influence on the stock returns of the SRI energy and resource companies.

Citation

BRZESZCZYŃSKI, J., GHIMIRE, B., JAMASB, T. and MCINTOSH, G. 2019. Socially responsible investment and market performance: the case of energy and resource companies. Energy journal [online], 40(5), pages 17-72. Available from: https://doi.org/10.5547/01956574.40.5.jbrz

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 30, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 11, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 11, 2023
• Journal: Energy journal
• Print ISSN: 0195-6574
• Electronic ISSN: 1944-9089
• Publisher: International Association for Energy Economics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 17-72
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5547/01956574.40.5.jbrz
• Keywords: Crude oil price; Energy and resource companies stocks; Socially responsible investment (SRI); SRI stocks; Stock market performance; Stock market returns
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1937877
• Related Public URLs: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2439527 (Working Paper)