IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v12y2024i4p89-d1374726.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can ESG Stocks Be a Safe Haven during Global Crises? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War with Time-Frequency Wavelet Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Ioannis Katsampoxakis

    (Department of Statistics and Actuarial Financial Mathematics, University of the Aegean, 83200 Samos, Greece)

  • Stylianos Xanthopoulos

    (Department of Statistics and Actuarial Financial Mathematics, University of the Aegean, 83200 Samos, Greece)

  • Charalampos Basdekis

    (Department of Tourism Management, Hellenic Open University, 26335 Patras, Greece)

  • Apostolos G. Christopoulos

    (Department of Business Administration, University of the Aegean, 82132 Chios, Greece)

Abstract

In times of intense economic variability and social turbulence worldwide, this paper aims to examine the existence of transient correlations and interdependencies between the most important MSCI ESG indices worldwide and the most important commodities’ index, economic uncertainty, natural gas, gold, and VIX, in a geographical and social context during two recent crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis due to the Ukrainian war. Using daily data from 3 January 2020 and extending until 23 August 2022, this study applies a wavelet coherence approach to analyze time series co-movements, in order to emphasize all possible combinations’ correlations and achieve more accurate outcomes at any given time and frequency band simultaneously and spontaneously. The results show robust coherence between different geographical areas, time, and frequency bands, indicating both positive and negative correlations with most of the combined ESG indices and other economic indicators. The study suggests that stock indices of leading ESG companies in North America and Europe constitute a safe investment haven during major upheavals and crises, providing a way for investors to manage risk and generate positive returns while contributing to economic sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioannis Katsampoxakis & Stylianos Xanthopoulos & Charalampos Basdekis & Apostolos G. Christopoulos, 2024. "Can ESG Stocks Be a Safe Haven during Global Crises? Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War with Time-Frequency Wavelet Analysis," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:12:y:2024:i:4:p:89-:d:1374726
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/12/4/89/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/12/4/89/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benjamin R. Auer, 2016. "Do Socially Responsible Investment Policies Add or Destroy European Stock Portfolio Value?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 381-397, May.
    2. Gao, Yang & Li, Yangyang & Wang, Yaojun, 2021. "Risk spillover and network connectedness analysis of China’s green bond and financial markets: Evidence from financial events of 2015–2020," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Imran Yousaf & Elie Bouri & Shoaib Ali & Nehme Azoury, 2021. "Gold against Asian Stock Markets during the COVID-19 Outbreak," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-23, April.
    4. Grace Alinaitwe & Olvar Bergland, 2024. "Assessing the Relationship between Fuel and Charcoal Prices in Uganda," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Gao, Yang & Li, Yangyang & Zhao, Chengjie & Wang, Yaojun, 2022. "Risk spillover analysis across worldwide ESG stock markets: New evidence from the frequency-domain," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simone Boccaletti & Paolo Maranzano & Caterina Morelli & Elisa Ossola, 2024. "ESG Performance and Stock Market Responses to Geopolitical Turmoil: evidence from the Russia-Ukraine War," Working Papers 544, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics.

    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. Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Anwer, Zaheer & Khan, Ashraf & Paltrinieri, Andrea, 2024. "Do market conditions affect interconnectedness pattern of socially responsible equities?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 611-630.
    2. 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).
    3. Miklesh Yadav & Nandita Mishra & Shruti Ashok, 2023. "Dynamic connectedness of green bond with financial markets of European countries under OECD economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 609-631, February.
    4. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Aikins Abakah, Emmanuel Joel & Adekoya, Oluwasegun B. & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2023. "What do we know about the price spillover between green bonds and Islamic stocks and stock market indices?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Costanza Torricelli & Beatrice Bertelli, 2022. "ESG screening strategies and portfolio performance: how do they fare in periods of financial distress?," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0087, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    6. Lu, Xunfa & Huang, Nan & Mo, Jianlei & Ye, Zhitao, 2023. "Dynamics of the return and volatility connectedness among green finance markets during the COVID-19 pandemic," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Yue Qi & Xiaolin Li, 2020. "On Imposing ESG Constraints of Portfolio Selection for Sustainable Investment and Comparing the Efficient Frontiers in the Weight Space," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, December.
    8. 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).
    9. Cevik, Emrah Ismail & Caliskan Terzioglu, Hande & Kilic, Yunus & Bugan, Mehmet Fatih & Dibooglu, Sel, 2024. "Interconnectedness and systemic risk: Evidence from global stock markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Soni, Rajat Kumar & Nandan, Tanuj & Sawarn, Ujjawal, 2024. "Investment modeling between energy futures and responsible investment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    11. Zhang, He & Gong, Zhenting & Yang, Yunglieh & Chen, Fan, 2023. "Dynamic connectedness between China green bond, carbon market and traditional financial markets: Evidence from quantile connectedness approach," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    12. Elsayed, Ahmed H. & Naifar, Nader & Nasreen, Samia & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2022. "Dependence structure and dynamic connectedness between green bonds and financial markets: Fresh insights from time-frequency analysis before and during COVID-19 pandemic," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. 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).
    14. Husain, Afzol & Karim, Sitara & Sensoy, Ahmet, 2024. "Financial fusion: Bridging Islamic and Green investments in the European stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Sharma, Gagan Deep & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Talan, Gaurav & Jain, Mansi, 2021. "Revisiting the sustainable versus conventional investment dilemma in COVID-19 times," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    16. Musumba Batondo & Josine Uwilingiye, 2022. "Comovement across BRICS and the US Stock Markets: A Multitime Scale Wavelet Analysis," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, April.
    17. Patrícia Pereira & Maria Céu Cortez & Florinda Silva, 2019. "Socially responsible investing and the performance of Eurozone corporate bond portfolios," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1407-1422, November.
    18. 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).
    19. Helen Chiappini & Gianfranco Vento & Leonardo De Palma, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Sustainable Indexes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Rodrigo Zeidan, 2022. "Why don't asset managers accelerate ESG investing? A sentiment analysis based on 13,000 messages from finance professionals," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3028-3039, November.

    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:gam:jecomi:v:12:y:2024:i:4:p:89-:d:1374726. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.