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Acting for good, being good or feeling good? Exploring factors influencing individual investors’ willingness to invest in green funds

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  • Hervé, Fabrice
  • Marsat, Sylvain

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the determinants of willingness to do good of green investment within a real-world context. Using data from a questionnaire administered between December 2021 and January 2022 to French individual investors, we find that “being good” (altruism) and “acting for good” (perceived impact) exert a substantial influence on both the decision-making process and the amount invested in green funds, while positive emotions (warm glow) are not significantly linked. This research highlights the core importance of altruism in green investment decision.

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  • Hervé, Fabrice & Marsat, Sylvain, 2024. "Acting for good, being good or feeling good? Exploring factors influencing individual investors’ willingness to invest in green funds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:67:y:2024:i:pa:s1544612324007669
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.105736
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green investment; Individual investors; Altruism; Impact investing; Warm glow; Sustainable finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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