Yes, Indeed, Idiosyncratic Risk Matters for Socially Responsible Investments!

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Author(s)
Li, Jane
Cheung, Adrian
Roca, Eduardo
Year published
2010
Metadata
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We provide empirical evidence regarding the effect of stock market regimes on Social Responsible Investment (SRI). Using the Markov Switching Model, we identify three market regimes for the study period between June 2001 and December 2009 in the US. These regimes are the low, medium, and high volatility states. We find a positive relationship between the idiosyncratic risk (i.e. unsystematic risk) and return during low and medium volatility states. However, this positive relationship tends to disappear during high volatility states. In addition, our analysis suggests that idiosyncratic risk has no forecasting power ...
View more >We provide empirical evidence regarding the effect of stock market regimes on Social Responsible Investment (SRI). Using the Markov Switching Model, we identify three market regimes for the study period between June 2001 and December 2009 in the US. These regimes are the low, medium, and high volatility states. We find a positive relationship between the idiosyncratic risk (i.e. unsystematic risk) and return during low and medium volatility states. However, this positive relationship tends to disappear during high volatility states. In addition, our analysis suggests that idiosyncratic risk has no forecasting power over SRI future returns. Overall, our findings imply that SRI investors are rewarded for bearing the additional SRI specific risk (idiosyncratic risk) when the market is less volatile. This reward, however, becomes uncertain during periods of high market volatility.
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View more >We provide empirical evidence regarding the effect of stock market regimes on Social Responsible Investment (SRI). Using the Markov Switching Model, we identify three market regimes for the study period between June 2001 and December 2009 in the US. These regimes are the low, medium, and high volatility states. We find a positive relationship between the idiosyncratic risk (i.e. unsystematic risk) and return during low and medium volatility states. However, this positive relationship tends to disappear during high volatility states. In addition, our analysis suggests that idiosyncratic risk has no forecasting power over SRI future returns. Overall, our findings imply that SRI investors are rewarded for bearing the additional SRI specific risk (idiosyncratic risk) when the market is less volatile. This reward, however, becomes uncertain during periods of high market volatility.
View less >
Journal Title
International Research Journal of Finance and Economics
Volume
2010
Issue
54
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2010 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Applied economics
Econometrics
Other economics not elsewhere classified
Banking, finance and investment