STOCK MARKET INDICES AS A MEASURMENT TOOL FOR PROFITABILITY OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACTIVITIES

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is gaining more importance in the functioning of businesses, therefore, tools are being developed to assess these activities, such as socially responsible stock indices. The research objective of the article is to characterise global and Polish socially responsible indices, as well as to measure and evaluate their profitability compared to traditional stock indices. The research methods applied in the paper are: subject literature analysis, statistical data analysis, secondary research analysis and own research in the form of calculating return rates and Sharpe ratios for RESPECT Index and WIG. The outputs of the analyses of the effectiveness of Polish and global indices will be compared to research hypotheses relating to socially responsible portfolios. The outcome of the article is to specify the key conclusions in the field of corporate social responsibility investment efficiency and stock market indices as a tool of measuring these activities.

Keywords

• corporate social responsibility
• socially responsible investing
• socially responsible stock indices
• sustainability stock market indices