Green corporate social responsibility on the capital market - can eco-responsibility be profitable?

Abstract

Purpose: The hereby thesis aims at an analysis of the effectiveness of green CSR on the fi nancial market and, more precisely, eco-ethical SRI investments in the form of investment funds and stock market indices. The studies presented will be correlated to research hypotheses regarding SRI portfolios. Methodology: The paper was written after an in-depth analysis of the literature of the subject, thereby applying the literature review research method, focused mainly on studies measuring the efficiency eco-ethical investing on the example: investment funds and stock market indices. Findings: The results show that green CSR can lead to gains for the investors, outperforming the benchmarks. The conclusion is made with a high degree of distrust but if “gains” are understood as the totality of benefi ts for the investor, the thesis becomes more certain. CSR and SRI have a number of other advantages, such as reduction of investment risk or improvement of the image and the natural environment. According to scientists, there is usually no diff erence between the viability of eco-ethical and traditional investments, what confi rms the “no effect” hypothesis. Implications/limitations: The paper presents eff ectiveness of eco-ethical investments in the light of scientific literature and ma y constitute a basis for further research. In addition, the author suggested specific directions for future analysis. The paper may have its weak points, referring to comparative analysis of studies by different authors which, due to multifarious guidelines, e.g. sample size, time horizon, are sometimes diff icult to be confronted with one another. Originality: The activity of financial institutions has an undisputed ecological dimension. Therefore, when making investment decisions, it is advised to take environmental factors into consideration. The number of researches referring to the eff iciency of SRI investments, mainly those ecologically oriented, is not that large – especially in Poland. Moreover, the aim of the author was to present the most geographically and temporally diverse ranges of analyses possible. Therefore, this article can be valuable for further research.