RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Risk
JF The Journal of Investing
FD Institutional Investor Journals
SP 57
OP 66
DO 10.3905/joi.2004.391042
VO 13
IS 1
A1 Boutin-Dufresne, François
A1 Savaria, Patrick
YR 2004
UL http://joi.pm-research.com/content/13/1/57.abstract
AB While studies have called the performance of socially responsible investments competitive, many investors do not choose to invest their assets in a socially responsible fashion. Part of this reluctance may relate to reduced diversification possibilities and the risk effects of application of ethical screens to portfolios. This investigation of a sample of Canadian stocks challenges the popular opinion that socially responsible investments are more volatile than conventional portfolios. Judged by two different methodologies, socially responsible companies tend to show less diversifiable risk in their stock behavior than non-socially responsible companies. These findings seem to support social investors? view that the adoption of corporate social responsibility codes of conduct can help diminish the overall business risk of a company, and even improve its long-term risk-adjusted performance.