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Religion and returns in Europe

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  • Salaber, Julie
Abstract
Drawing on social identity and social impact theory, this paper is the first to investigate the impact of religious preferences on share prices and expected returns at the country level. Using data from 12 European countries, our findings suggest that religion has a significant effect on the share price of companies whose activities are considered unethical, i.e., tobacco manufacturers and alcohol producers. The share price of these companies (called sin stocks) is depressed when they are located in a predominantly Protestant environment (relative to a Catholic environment). With investors in Protestant countries being more sin averse than in Catholic countries, they insist upon higher expected returns on sin stocks. Conversely, religious preferences do not have the same impact on the performance of other companies, e.g. socially responsible companies. Our results are robust to various methodologies and controlling for several firm-specific, industry-specific and country-specific characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Salaber, Julie, 2013. "Religion and returns in Europe," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 149-160.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:32:y:2013:i:c:p:149-160
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2013.07.002
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    Cited by:

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    3. Gunnar Gutsche, 2019. "Individual and Regional Christian Religion and the Consideration of Sustainable Criteria in Consumption and Investment Decisions: An Exploratory Econometric Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1155-1182, July.
    4. Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2020. "Breaking bad: An investment in cannabis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    5. Gunnar Gutsche & Anja Köbrich León & Andreas Ziegler, 2016. "On the relevance of psychological motives, values, and norms for socially responsible investments: An econometric analysis," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201641, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    6. Anwer, Zaheer & Mohamad, Shamsher & Paltrinieri, Andrea & Hassan, M. Kabir, 2021. "Dividend payout policy of Shariah compliant firms: Evidence from United States," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. José Luis Miralles-Quirós & María Mar Miralles-Quirós, 2020. "Who Knocks on the Door of Portfolio Performance Heaven: Sinner or Saint Investors?," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-18, November.
    8. Fatemi, Ali & Fooladi, Iraj & Zhao, Yonggan & Ma, Zongming, 2024. "On the superior performance of SRI funds," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 567-581.
    9. Koedijk, Kees & ter Horst, Jenke & Borgers, Arian & Derwall, Jeroen, 2015. "Do Social Factors Influence Investment Behaviour and Performance? Evidence from Mutual Fund Holdings," CEPR Discussion Papers 10740, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Shafron, Emily, 2019. "Investor tastes: Implications for asset pricing in the public debt market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 6-27.
    11. Pieter Jan Trinks & Bert Scholtens, 2017. "The Opportunity Cost of Negative Screening in Socially Responsible Investing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 193-208, January.
    12. Boubakri, Narjess & Chen, Ruiyuan & Guedhami, Omrane & Li, Xinming, 2019. "The Stock Liquidity of Banks: A Comparison between Islamic and Conventional Banks in Emerging Economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 210-224.
    13. Guidi, Marco & Sogiakas, Vasilios & Vagenas-Nanos, Evangelos & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2020. "Spreading the sin: An empirical assessment from corporate takeovers," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Borgers, Arian & Derwall, Jeroen & Koedijk, Kees & ter Horst, Jenke, 2015. "Do social factors influence investment behavior and performance? Evidence from mutual fund holdings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 112-126.
    15. Łukasz Dopierała & Magdalena Mosionek-Schweda & Daria Ilczuk, 2020. "Does the Asset Allocation Policy Affect the Performance of Climate-Themed Funds? Empirical Evidence from the Scandinavian Mutual Funds Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.
    16. Andreas G. F. Hoepner & Lisa Schopohl, 2018. "On the Price of Morals in Markets: An Empirical Study of the Swedish AP-Funds and the Norwegian Government Pension Fund," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 665-692, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial performance; Religious preferences; Sin stock premium; Social identity; Social responsibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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