The Evolution of the Corporate Social Responsibility and the Socially Responsible Investment Concepts. Creation of a Socially Responsible Stock Portfolio

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility has been gaining importance as different historical events occur, important events such as the economic crisis of2008 have caused a loss of confidence from the investor in the traditional business activities that do not con tribute with any extra value to the society and environment. Therefore, a new thought of socially responsible investrnent has been developed. This new trend of investrnent suggests adding severa( additional criteria to those airead y desired by lraditional investors, maximize retum for a certain level of risk. Within this paper, we presenta descriptive analysis of the evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility, its practica! application and theoretical development during history, as well as the development and tmderstanding of the Socially Responsible lnvestment. Is the investor gaining an extra return by investing in a socially responsible portfolio? This question will be answered through the construction of a socially responsible portfolio and its comparison with the same portfolio but equally-weighted, without applying any socially responsible criteria.