Risk and return characteristics of environmentally and socially responsible firms in Spain during a financial downturn: 2008–2011

Abstract

The onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 undermined trust in financial markets, with immediate damages to businesses and enduring negative effects for numerous national economies. The situation also has endangered progress in terms of investments in environmental and social management (ESM) issues, because managers may be more likely to embrace the misguided notion that such investments represent a non-returnable costs that will hinder firms' financial performance. Yet ESM is needed now more than ever, because "doing good and doing well" messages are highly appreciated by stakeholders and can substantially improve a firm's competitiveness. This article analyzes the performance of the Spanish FTSE4Good IBEX index, compared with that of the Spanish IBEX 35 index, during the financial crisis and reveals slightly better performance for the former. Thus, considering the difficult financial context, indicators of good environmental and social performance, among other factors, might have positive effects on stock index performance. The findings offer some key implications for managerial practice.

Construir sobre roca

“…En efecto, las operaciones logísticas, de transporte e industriales, esto es, la actividad empresarial en general, constituye un factor principal en el problema medioambiental actual 31 , requiriéndose un rol activo por parte de las organizaciones empresariales para solventar dicho problema. En este contexto, el hecho de cumplir simplemente la norma no es suficiente.…”

A review of accounting research in internationalising journals in the South African region

“…Financial Analysis (FA): Studies have investigated the relation between CSR reporting or activities on market competition, stock returns, and financial performance (Marcia et al 2015;Ruiz-Palomino, Pozo-Rubio & Martínez-Cañas 2015;Ryu et al 2016), and the potential impact of the Marikana incident on stock prices of mining companies listed on the JSE (Hill & Maroun 2015). Huang, Su and Wang (2015) examine market reactions to seasoned equity offerings.…”