Abstract

Do investors’ green investing preferences depend on the political environment? We provide novel evidence by conducting incentivized surveys of U.S. individual investors before and after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. After Trump’s win, we observe an average decrease in green investing, but a relative increase among investors who strongly disagree with his climate policy. These ‘contrarians’ perceive a higher impact of green investing and feel a stronger warm glow from it after the election, suggesting they boost sustainable investments to compensate for the government’s climate failures. Analyses of investment motives confirm that investors who strengthen their green investments place greater weight on non-pecuniary considerations and less on financial ones. The results imply that investors’ taste for green assets is not exogenous, but shaped by their perceptions of the government’s climate protection efforts.

Practical information