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Ethical Investing: Ethical Investors and Managers

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  • Hudson, Richard

Abstract

“Ethical investing” is interpreted in the following paper to be the use of non-financial normative criteria by investors in the choice of securities for their portfolios. Ethical investors may aim at fulfilling duties they feel they have, possibly including increasing the amount of good in society through the consequences of their buying and selling behavior. The main duties are those of not-profiting from bad corporate behavior and of punishing bad (or rewarding good) firms. The main consequence desired is that managers manage corporations in a more ethical manner. But ethical investors (as opposed to some other kinds of investors who are also interested in normative issues) also aim at receiving returns based on the market risk of their investments. If the aim of managers is to maximize shareholder wealth, then ethical investors can fulfill their duties or achieve their desired consequences only if their trading activities affect shareholder wealth, i.e., share price. A theoretical argument is presented to show that this trading activity will not affect share price or return. In addition, reference is made to results of empirical studies which show that ethical stocks yield market returns, i.e., that the share price of ethical firms is unaffected by the actions of ethical investors. If the trading activity of ethical investors fails to affect share price and return, then these investors fail to fulfill any of their goals or to achieve their ends.

Suggested Citation

  • Hudson, Richard, 2005. "Ethical Investing: Ethical Investors and Managers," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 641-657, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:15:y:2005:i:04:p:641-657_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Joakim Sandberg, 2011. "Socially Responsible Investment and Fiduciary Duty: Putting the Freshfields Report into Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 143-162, June.
    2. Lars Hornuf & Eliza Stenzhorn & Tim Vintis, 2022. "Are sustainability-oriented investors different? Evidence from equity crowdfunding," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 1662-1689, December.
    3. Fernando García & Jairo González-Bueno & Francisco Guijarro & Javier Oliver, 2020. "Forecasting the Environmental, Social, and Governance Rating of Firms by Using Corporate Financial Performance Variables: A Rough Set Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    4. Sandberg, Joakim & Nilsson, Jonas, 2011. "Conflicting Intuitions about Ethical Investment: A Survey among Individual Investors," Sustainable Investment and Corporate Governance Working Papers 2010/16, Sustainable Investment Research Platform.
    5. Federica Ielasi & Monica Rossolini, 2019. "Responsible or Thematic? The True Nature of Sustainability-Themed Mutual Funds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Hoover, Gary A. & Smimou, K., 2023. "Socially conscious investment funds and home country institutions," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 395-417.
    7. Jean-Marie Nkongolo-Bakenda & Elie Chrysostome, 2013. "Engaging diasporas as international entrepreneurs in developing countries: In search of determinants," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 30-64, March.
    8. Arnaud Gougler & Sebastian Utz, 2020. "Factor exposures and diversification: Are sustainably screened portfolios any different?," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 34(3), pages 221-249, September.
    9. Khine Kyaw & Mojisola Olugbode & Barbara Petracci, 2022. "Stakeholder engagement: Investors' environmental risk aversion and corporate earnings," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1220-1231, March.
    10. Muel Kaptein, 2017. "The Battle for Business Ethics: A Struggle Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 343-361, August.
    11. Tjai Nielsen & Liesl Riddle, 2009. "Investing in Peace: The Motivational Dynamics of Diaspora Investment in Post-Conflict Economies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 435-448, March.
    12. Lars Hornuf & Gül Yüksel, 2022. "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investments: A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9724, CESifo.
    13. Salaber, Julie, 2013. "Religion and returns in Europe," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 149-160.
    14. Volker Lingnau & Florian Fuchs & Florian Beham, 2022. "The link between corporate sustainability and willingness to invest: new evidence from the field of ethical investments," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 335-369, September.

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