Short- and long-term effects of responsible investment growth on equity returns
ISSN: 1526-5943
Article publication date: 14 December 2021
Issue publication date: 14 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The growth of socially responsible assets has been exponential over the last decade, they now account for almost a third of professional investments. As the growth persists, faith and conviction investors reshape the equity markets. To fully comprehend the impact of socially conscious participants on security returns, this paper attempts to provide insights on how responsible investment growth has impacted the returns of sustainable stocks. The examination is split by investment horizon to account for short and long effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an exclusive dataset of non-financial ratings, provided by MSCI ESG research, the authors examine the cross-sectional returns of US and European sustainability-leading and lagging corporations between 2007 and 2019. Panel models robust to country, firm-year and industry effects were then employed to examine the impact of responsible investment growth on future stock returns.
Findings
The authors find evidence that the impact of responsible investment growth is dual contingent upon the timeframe considered. In the short run, sustainability-leading and lagging firms display similar stock returns. However, the spread in returns is negative over long horizons and increasing over time.
Originality/value
The examination performed in this study highlights the significant effect of responsible investment growth on future stock returns. Overall, the authors’ findings are consistent with the price pressure hypothesis in the short run and the cost of capital alteration over longer horizons.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank MSCI ESG Research LLC, provider of the ESG-related data, and OFI Asset Management, for granting access to MSCI ESG Research LLC's database. This research was supported financially by OFI Asset Management under the CIFRE contract number 2018-1606. OFI Asset Management has no role in the research process other than funding.
Citation
Ferrat, Y., Daty, F. and Burlacu, R. (2022), "Short- and long-term effects of responsible investment growth on equity returns", Journal of Risk Finance, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRF-07-2021-0107
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited