IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v141y2024ics0264999324002219.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding dynamic return connectedness and portfolio strategies among international sustainable exchange-traded funds

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Danyang
  • Corbet, Shaen
  • Lang, Chunlin
  • Hu, Yang

Abstract

The rapid growth of sustainable investing has led to the global expansion of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment products. Existing literature on sustainable investing focuses primarily on corporate social responsibility theory and risk assessment, with relatively little research on ESG investment value and portfolio strategies. Using data from six worldwide ESG exchange-traded funds (ETFs) between 2020 and 2023, we examine return connectedness and portfolio performance by employing a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) and portfolio approaches. The findings reveal that European ETF plays a dominant role in the worldwide ESG system due to the market size and market maturity. Specifically, the European ETF can substantially reduce portfolio volatility. Moreover, the results show that minimum variance and risk-parity portfolios outperform the other portfolio strategies during periods of geopolitical turmoil. These results provide valuable insights for improving the resilience of ESG markets and enhancing sustainable investment strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Danyang & Corbet, Shaen & Lang, Chunlin & Hu, Yang, 2024. "Understanding dynamic return connectedness and portfolio strategies among international sustainable exchange-traded funds," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:141:y:2024:i:c:s0264999324002219
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999324002219
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106864?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sherrill, D. Eli & Stark, Jeffrey R., 2018. "ETF liquidation determinants," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 357-373.
    2. Robert F Engle & Stefano Giglio & Bryan Kelly & Heebum Lee & Johannes Stroebel, 2020. "Hedging Climate Change News," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1184-1216.
    3. Zerbib, Olivier David, 2019. "The effect of pro-environmental preferences on bond prices: Evidence from green bonds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 39-60.
    4. Boungou, Whelsy & Yatié, Alhonita, 2022. "The impact of the Ukraine–Russia war on world stock market returns," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    5. Jozef Baruník & Tomáš Křehlík, 2018. "Measuring the Frequency Dynamics of Financial Connectedness and Systemic Risk," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 271-296.
    6. Lovcha, Yuliya & Perez-Laborda, Alejandro, 2020. "Dynamic frequency connectedness between oil and natural gas volatilities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 181-189.
    7. Jiang, Wei & Dong, Lingfei & Chen, Yunfei, 2023. "Time-frequency connectedness among traditional/new energy, green finance, and ESG in pre- and post-Russia-Ukraine war periods," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4688 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Anquetin, Théophile & Coqueret, Guillaume & Tavin, Bertrand & Welgryn, Lou, 2022. "Scopes of carbon emissions and their impact on green portfolios," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    10. Peng‐Fei Dai & John W. Goodell & Luu Duc Toan Huynh & Zhifeng Liu & Shaen Corbet, 2023. "Understanding the transmission of crash risk between cryptocurrency and equity markets," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 539-573, August.
    11. Samuel M. Hartzmark & Abigail B. Sussman, 2019. "Do Investors Value Sustainability? A Natural Experiment Examining Ranking and Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(6), pages 2789-2837, December.
    12. Lei, Heng & Xue, Minggao & Liu, Huiling & Ye, Jing, 2023. "Precious metal as a safe haven for global ESG stocks: Portfolio implications for socially responsible investing," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les & Xu, Danyang, 2021. "Pandemic-related financial market volatility spillovers: Evidence from the Chinese COVID-19 epicentre," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 55-81.
    14. Plastun, Alex & Bouri, Elie & Gupta, Rangan & Ji, Qiang, 2022. "Price effects after one-day abnormal returns in developed and emerging markets: ESG versus traditional indices," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    15. Aparicio, Juan & López-Torres, Laura & Santín, Daniel, 2018. "Economic crisis and public education. A productivity analysis using a Hicks-Moorsteen index," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 34-44.
    16. Kyriazis, Nikolaos & Papadamou, Stephanos & Tzeremes, Panayiotis & Corbet, Shaen, 2023. "Can cryptocurrencies provide a viable hedging mechanism for benchmark index investors?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    17. Goodell, John W. & Corbet, Shaen & Yadav, Miklesh Prasad & Kumar, Satish & Sharma, Sudhi & Malik, Kunjana, 2022. "Time and frequency connectedness of green equity indices: Uncovering a socially important link to Bitcoin," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    18. Wan, Jieru & Yin, Libo & Wu, You, 2024. "Return and volatility connectedness across global ESG stock indexes: Evidence from the time-frequency domain analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PB), pages 397-428.
    19. Capelle-Blancard, Gunther & Crifo, Patricia & Diaye, Marc-Arthur & Oueghlissi, Rim & Scholtens, Bert, 2019. "Sovereign bond yield spreads and sustainability: An empirical analysis of OECD countries," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 156-169.
    20. Jia, Zhijie & Wen, Shiyan & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "The effects and reacts of COVID-19 pandemic and international oil price on energy, economy, and environment in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    21. Umar, Zaghum & Kenourgios, Dimitris & Papathanasiou, Sypros, 2020. "The static and dynamic connectedness of environmental, social, and governance investments: International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 112-124.
    22. Christoffersen, Peter & Errunza, Vihang & Jacobs, Kris & Jin, Xisong, 2014. "Correlation dynamics and international diversification benefits," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 807-824.
    23. Akhtaruzzaman, Md & Banerjee, Ameet Kumar & Ghardallou, Wafa & Umar, Zaghum, 2022. "Is greenness an optimal hedge for sectoral stock indices?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    24. Li, Zeyun & Kuo, Tsung-Hsien & Siao-Yun, Wei & The Vinh, Luu, 2022. "Role of green finance, volatility and risk in promoting the investments in Renewable Energy Resources in the post-covid-19," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    25. David C. Broadstock & Ioannis Chatziantoniou & David Gabauer, 2022. "Minimum Connectedness Portfolios and the Market for Green Bonds: Advocating Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Activity," Springer Books, in: Christos Floros & Ioannis Chatziantoniou (ed.), Applications in Energy Finance, chapter 0, pages 217-253, Springer.
    26. Auer, Benjamin R. & Schuhmacher, Frank, 2016. "Do socially (ir)responsible investments pay? New evidence from international ESG data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 51-62.
    27. Avramov, Doron & Cheng, Si & Lioui, Abraham & Tarelli, Andrea, 2022. "Sustainable investing with ESG rating uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 642-664.
    28. Liu, Min & Guo, Tongji & Ping, Weiying & Luo, Liangqing, 2023. "Sustainability and stability: Will ESG investment reduce the return and volatility spillover effects across the Chinese financial market?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    29. Zou, Jin & Yan, Jingzhou & Deng, Guoying, 2023. "ESG rating confusion and bond spreads," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    30. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2022. "Dissecting green returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 403-424.
    31. Ederington, Louis H, 1979. "The Hedging Performance of the New Futures Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 34(1), pages 157-170, March.
    32. Umar, Zaghum & Gubareva, Mariya & Tran, Dang Khoa & Teplova, Tamara, 2021. "Impact of the Covid-19 induced panic on the Environmental, Social and Governance leaders equity volatility: A time-frequency analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    33. Luo, Deqing & Shan, Xun & Yan, Jingzhou & Yan, Qianhui, 2023. "Sustainable investment under ESG volatility and ambiguity," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    34. Koop, Gary & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Potter, Simon M., 1996. "Impulse response analysis in nonlinear multivariate models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 119-147, September.
    35. Chen, Yu & Lin, Boqiang, 2022. "Quantifying the extreme spillovers on worldwide ESG leaders' equity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    36. William Nganga Irungu & Julien Chevallier & Simon Wagura Ndiritu, 2020. "Regime changes and fiscal sustainability in Kenya," Post-Print halshs-04250229, HAL.
    37. Zhang, Ning & Zhang, Yue & Zong, Zhe, 2023. "Fund ESG performance and downside risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    38. Levy, Ariel & Lieberman, Offer, 2013. "Overreaction of country ETFs to US market returns: Intraday vs. daily horizons and the role of synchronized trading," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1412-1421.
    39. Pesaran, H. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 1998. "Generalized impulse response analysis in linear multivariate models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 17-29, January.
    40. Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Smith, Tom & McKnight, Brent, 2016. "Environmental finance: A research agenda for interdisciplinary finance research," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 124-130.
    41. Nofsinger, John & Varma, Abhishek, 2014. "Socially responsible funds and market crises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 180-193.
    42. Zeng, Ting & Yang, Mengying & Shen, Yifan, 2020. "Fancy Bitcoin and conventional financial assets: Measuring market integration based on connectedness networks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 209-220.
    43. Nikolaos Antonakakis & Ioannis Chatziantoniou & David Gabauer, 2020. "Refined Measures of Dynamic Connectedness based on Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregressions," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, April.
    44. Broadstock, David C. & Chan, Kalok & Cheng, Louis T.W. & Wang, Xiaowei, 2021. "The role of ESG performance during times of financial crisis: Evidence from COVID-19 in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    45. Kyriazis, Nikolaos & Papadamou, Stephanos & Tzeremes, Panayiotis & Corbet, Shaen, 2023. "The differential influence of social media sentiment on cryptocurrency returns and volatility during COVID-19," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 307-317.
    46. Yan, Lei & Garcia, Philip, 2017. "Portfolio investment: Are commodities useful?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 43-55.
    47. Iqbal, Najaf & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Suleman, Muhammed Tahir, 2022. "Quantifying the asymmetric spillovers in sustainable investments," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    48. Irungu, William Nganga & Chevallier, Julien & Ndiritu, Simon Wagura, 2020. "Regime changes and fiscal sustainability in Kenya," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-9.
    49. Akyildirim, Erdinc & Conlon, Thomas & Corbet, Shaen & Goodell, John W., 2023. "Understanding the FTX exchange collapse: A dynamic connectedness approach," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    50. Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Yousaf, Imran & Karim, Sitara & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Farid, Saqib, 2023. "Comparing asymmetric price efficiency in regional ESG markets before and during COVID-19," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    51. Joanna Tochman Campbell & Lorraine Eden & Stewart R Miller, 2012. "Multinationals and corporate social responsibility in host countries: Does distance matter?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 84-106, January.
    52. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2021. "Volatility spillovers during market supply shocks: The case of negative oil prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    53. Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Karim, Sitara & Yarovaya, Larisa & Lucey, Brian M., 2023. "COVID-induced sentiment and the intraday volatility spillovers between energy and other ETFs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    54. Quang Trinh, Vu & Duong Cao, Ngan & Li, Teng & Elnahass, Marwa, 2023. "Social capital, trust, and bank tail risk: The value of ESG rating and the effects of crisis shocks," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    55. Lien, Donald & Zhang, Jiewen & Yu, Xiaojian, 2022. "Effects of economic policy uncertainty: A regime switching connectedness approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    56. Cepni, Oguzhan & Demirer, Riza & Pham, Linh & Rognone, Lavinia, 2023. "Climate uncertainty and information transmissions across the conventional and ESG assets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bhattacherjee, Purba & Mishra, Sibanjan & Bouri, Elie, 2024. "Does asset-based uncertainty drive asymmetric return connectedness across regional ESG markets?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    2. Iqbal, Najaf & Umar, Zaghum & Ruman, Asif M. & Jiang, Shaohua, 2024. "The term structure of yield curve and connectedness among ESG investments," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    3. Ahad, Muhammad & Imran, Zulfiqar Ali & Shahzad, Khurram, 2024. "Safe haven between European ESG and energy sector under Russian-Ukraine war: Role of sustainable investments for portfolio diversification," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Chatziantoniou, Ioannis & Gabauer, David & Karim, Sitara, 2024. "Measuring the G20 stock market return transmission mechanism: Evidence from the R2 connectedness approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Cocca, Teodoro & Gabauer, David & Pomberger, Stefan, 2024. "Clean energy market connectedness and investment strategies: New evidence from DCC-GARCH R2 decomposed connectedness measures," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    6. Lei, Heng & Xue, Minggao & Liu, Huiling & Ye, Jing, 2023. "Precious metal as a safe haven for global ESG stocks: Portfolio implications for socially responsible investing," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Billah, Mabruk & Alam, Md Rafayet & Hoque, Mohammad Enamul, 2024. "Global uncertainty and the spillover of tail risk between green and Islamic markets: A time-frequency domain approach with portfolio implications," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1416-1433.
    8. Xu, Danyang & Hu, Yang & Corbet, Shaen & Lang, Chunlin, 2024. "Return connectedness of green bonds and financial investment channels in China: Implications for hedging and regulation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    9. Lang, Chunlin & Hu, Yang & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg), 2024. "Tail risk connectedness in G7 stock markets: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 and related variants," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    10. Bhattacherjee, Purba & Mishra, Sibanjan & Kang, Sang Hoon, 2024. "Extreme time-frequency connectedness across U.S. sector stock and commodity futures markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 1176-1197.
    11. de Boyrie, Maria E. & Pavlova, Ivelina, 2024. "Connectedness with commodities in emerging markets: ESG leaders vs. conventional indexes," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Imran, Zulfiqar Ali & Ahad, Muhammad & Shahzad, Khurram & Ahmad, Mobeen & Hameed, Imran, 2024. "Safe haven properties of industrial stocks against ESG in the United States: Portfolio implication for sustainable investments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    13. Zhang, Wenting & He, Xie & Hamori, Shigeyuki, 2023. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war on multiscale spillovers in green finance markets: Evidence from lower and higher order moments," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Gabauer, David & Chatziantoniou, Ioannis & Stenfors, Alexis, 2023. "Model-free connectedness measures," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    15. Muneer Shaik & Mohd Ziaur Rehman, 2023. "The Dynamic Volatility Connectedness of Major Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Stock Indices: Evidence Based on DCC-GARCH Model," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(1), pages 231-246, March.
    16. Dunbar, Kwamie & Treku, Daniel & Sarnie, Robert & Hoover, Jack, 2023. "What does ESG risk premia tell us about mutual fund sustainability levels: A difference-in-differences analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Pham, Linh & Kamal, Javed Bin, 2024. "Blessings or curse: How do media climate change concerns affect commodity tail risk spillovers?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    18. Hoque, Mohammad Enamul & Soo-Wah, Low & Billah, Mabruk, 2023. "Time-frequency connectedness and spillover among carbon, climate, and energy futures: Determinants and portfolio risk management implications," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    19. Umar, Zaghum & Iqbal, Najaf & Teplova, Tamara & Tan, Duojiao, 2024. "Dynamic impact of the US yield curve on green bonds: Navigating through recent crises," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Wang, Ren & Bian, Yuxiang & Xiong, Xiong, 2024. "Impact of ESG preferences on investments and emissions in a DSGE framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ESG; Exchange-traded funds; Dynamic connectedness; Hedging effectiveness; Portfolio strategies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:141:y:2024:i:c:s0264999324002219. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.