Authors: Amelia BilbaoTerol Mar ArenasParra Verónica CañalFernández Celia BilbaoTerol
Publish Date: 2012/08/03
Volume: 115, Issue: 3, Pages: 515-529
Abstract
This paper presents a novel framework for selecting socially responsible investment SRI portfolios The Hedonic Price Method HPM is applied to obtain an evaluation of SRI criteria that is integrated into a multiobjective mathematical programming model The HPM breaks away from the traditional view that goods are the direct object of utility on the contrary it assumes that utility is derived from the properties or characteristics of the goods themselves As far as the investment decision is concerned we assume that socially responsible investmentmutual funds SRI funds constitute heterogeneous goods Our approach allows us to obtain a portfolio the financial performance of which is similar to that which the investor would have reached if he or she had not taken into account social ethical and environmental considerations when making his or her investment decisions This is achieved by designing a twostage multiobjective mathematical programming procedure In the first stage we achieve the maximum level of financial satisfaction that the investor can receive In the second stage the portfolio with the best financial–social behavior is built For the purpose of this second stage the first stage portfolio is used as a benchmark for the financial performance of a socially responsible portfolio To apply this methodology we use portfolios composed of socially responsible and conventional mutual funds domiciled in Spain
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