Can Green Investment Win the Favor of Investors in China? Evidence from the Return Performance of Green Investment Stocks

Green investment is a highly praised form of investment behavior in today's China. The ecological value of green investment has reached a consensus, but its financial performance remains an open question. Based on a unique dataset of 77 green investment stocks covering the period from July 2012 to December 2017, this paper investigates the returns performance of green investments employing multifactor models and propensity score matching techniques. We find that green investment stocks underperform conventional stocks and offer less protection against extreme downside risk, which indicates that investors need to pay what amounts to a premium or supplemental cost for going green. Our empirical results point to some important implications for policymakers and investors.