In this research, I analyse how exposure to sin sectors impacts the financial performance of socially responsible (SR) funds. I also analyse the question of whether or not these funds keep their word and are less exposed to the controversial sectors that they claim to exclude in their prospectuses. Additionally, I analyse how local political and religious factors exert an influence on the exposure of SR funds to sin sectors. Consequently, I analyse a sample comprising 136 SR mutual funds that were domiciled in the U.S. market in the period March 2017–April 2020 and who invest in domestic and global equity, of which 92 implement negative screens on at least 1 of 12 controversial activities. My results show that for seven (three) of the controversial sectors that were analysed, the exposure of SR funds to these sectors jeopardises (improves) their financial performance. Furthermore, SR mutual funds who perform negative screens tend to live up to their name and are less exposed to the sector/s that they claim to exclude. In addition, SR mutual funds managed by companies located in Democrat‐leaning states are less exposed to sin sectors, and that the effect of local religiosity depends on the specific sector analysed.

中文翻译：

---

罪恶行业和负面筛查

在这项研究中，我分析了犯罪领域的敞口如何影响社会责任（SR）基金的财务绩效。我还分析了这些基金是否信守诺言，并较少受到有争议的部门（它们声称要从招股说明书中排除）的风险。此外，我分析了当地的政治和宗教因素如何影响SR资金在犯罪部门的敞口。因此，我分析了一个样本，该样本包括136个SR共同基金，这些共同基金在2017年3月至2020年4月期间在美国市场定居，并投资于国内和全球股权，其中92个对至少12个有争议的活动中的1个实施了负面筛选。我的结果表明，对于已分析的七个（三个）有争议的行业，SR资金在这些部门的敞口会危害（改善）其财务绩效。此外，执行负面筛选的SR共同基金往往不辜负自己的名字，并且很少接触他们声称要排除的行业。此外，由位于民主国家的公司管理的SR共同基金受犯罪部门影响较小，而且当地宗教信仰的影响取决于所分析的特定部门。