Environmentally responsible performance and market value of shares in periods of financial crisis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the environmentally responsible performance of companies for the Spanish stock market. An analysis of the effect on the stock price of the news published in the periodical press during the period 2000-2010, alluding to positive actions on the environment by public companies, offers as most significant conclusion that there is evidence that investors react differently to news related to expenses and investments depending on whether the country's economy is in a growth phase or in crisis. They are positive in the first case and negative in the second. There is no evidence for the rest of environmental news items. These findings lend weight to the theory that investors consider relevant corporate polities on environment and that their reaction is conditioned by the economic climate.