Socially Responsible Investments: An International Empirical Study Of Time-Varying Risk Premiums

Abstract

This paper empirically analyses the performance of Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) by applying an asymmetric BEKK GARCH model which estimates conditional systematic risk and varying risk premiums. We evaluate the performance of SRI from an international perspective, comparing sustainable indexes with conventional indexes, and we apply our model to three regions: the USA, Europe, and Asia Pacific. We respectively compare the Dow Jones Sustainability United States Index, the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index, and the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia/Pacific Index with conventional indexes, namely the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Dow Jones Europe Index, and the Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Index. Our model estimations are based on weekly data from January 2004 to November 2013. Our results show that sustainable indexes exhibit lower risk premiums than conventional ones. However each of the three regions studied has its own specificity in terms of investor behavior toward SRI, including the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis.