The Influence of Ethical and Financial Drivers on Investment Behaviour in Art Funds: A Survey-Based Analysis of Trade-offs
(2025) NEKH02 20251Department of Economics
- Abstract
- Art funds are gaining traction as an alternative asset class, yet investors must often weigh financial returns against ethical objectives such as promoting diversity in the art market.
This bachelor’s thesis investigates how these two motives interact by asking: How do ethical and financial drivers shape individual investors’ willingness to allocate capital to art funds?
A two-part online survey was fielded in Sweden (N = 50). Part I used four within-subject vignettes—Social-Responsibility, High-Return, Reputable-Manager, and Blue-Chip—to isolate how distinct cues shift a 1–10 willingness score; Part II employed a binary choice between a conventional high-yield fund and a lower-yield, socially responsible alternative to reveal the... (More) - Art funds are gaining traction as an alternative asset class, yet investors must often weigh financial returns against ethical objectives such as promoting diversity in the art market.
This bachelor’s thesis investigates how these two motives interact by asking: How do ethical and financial drivers shape individual investors’ willingness to allocate capital to art funds?
A two-part online survey was fielded in Sweden (N = 50). Part I used four within-subject vignettes—Social-Responsibility, High-Return, Reputable-Manager, and Blue-Chip—to isolate how distinct cues shift a 1–10 willingness score; Part II employed a binary choice between a conventional high-yield fund and a lower-yield, socially responsible alternative to reveal the implicit “exchange rate” between ethics and return.
Fixed-effects OLS and ordered-logit models show that a high-return cue raises willingness most (+2.74 points), while a social-responsibility cue still produces a sizeable lift (+1.64) but smaller than pure return signals; risk-reduction narratives have more modest effects (+0.8–0.98). Prior familiarity with art funds does not raise baseline demand. In the trade-off task, respondents require roughly a three-percentage-point premium to compensate for foregone returns when choosing the socially responsible fund, whereas personal ethics raise acceptance by only ~1 pp.
Overall, expected financial returns remain the dominant driver, yet ethical framing meaningfully increases demand. Art-fund managers should therefore combine competitive return narratives with credible ESG credentials to capture both profit-seeking and values-driven investors. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9193544
- author
- Arvidsson Bergving, Oscar LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- NEKH02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Art funds · Ethical investing · Investor behaviour · Financial returns
- language
- English
- id
- 9193544
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-12 09:14:57
- date last changed
- 2025-09-12 09:14:57
@misc{9193544,
abstract = {{Art funds are gaining traction as an alternative asset class, yet investors must often weigh financial returns against ethical objectives such as promoting diversity in the art market.
This bachelor’s thesis investigates how these two motives interact by asking: How do ethical and financial drivers shape individual investors’ willingness to allocate capital to art funds?
A two-part online survey was fielded in Sweden (N = 50). Part I used four within-subject vignettes—Social-Responsibility, High-Return, Reputable-Manager, and Blue-Chip—to isolate how distinct cues shift a 1–10 willingness score; Part II employed a binary choice between a conventional high-yield fund and a lower-yield, socially responsible alternative to reveal the implicit “exchange rate” between ethics and return.
Fixed-effects OLS and ordered-logit models show that a high-return cue raises willingness most (+2.74 points), while a social-responsibility cue still produces a sizeable lift (+1.64) but smaller than pure return signals; risk-reduction narratives have more modest effects (+0.8–0.98). Prior familiarity with art funds does not raise baseline demand. In the trade-off task, respondents require roughly a three-percentage-point premium to compensate for foregone returns when choosing the socially responsible fund, whereas personal ethics raise acceptance by only ~1 pp.
Overall, expected financial returns remain the dominant driver, yet ethical framing meaningfully increases demand. Art-fund managers should therefore combine competitive return narratives with credible ESG credentials to capture both profit-seeking and values-driven investors.}},
author = {{Arvidsson Bergving, Oscar}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Influence of Ethical and Financial Drivers on Investment Behaviour in Art Funds: A Survey-Based Analysis of Trade-offs}},
year = {{2025}},
}