A Social Movement Perspective on Finance: How Socially Responsible Investment Mattered

Abstract

International audienceThis study discusses how social movements can influence economic systems. Employing a political-cultural approach to markets, it purports that 'compromise movements' can help change existing institutions by proposing new ones. This study argues in favor of the role of social movements in reforming economic institutions. More precisely, Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) movements can help bring SRI concerns into financial institutions. A study of how the French SRI movement has been able to change entrenched institutional logics of the French asset management sector provides wide-ranging support for these arguments. Empirical findings are drawn from a longitudinal case study (1997-2009), based on participative observation, interviews and documentary evidence. Implications for research on social movements, institutional change and SRI are outlined. Lastly, the study provides practitioners with some theoretical keys to understand the pros and cons of 'SRI labels'

Belief and Investing: Preferences and Attitudes of the Faithful

“…SRI, also known as ethical investment, involves investing in companies (in the form of direct share investments or managed funds) that screen out investments related to social concerns such as pollution, child labour, gambling and tobacco (NMI, 2003;Bengtsson 2008;Star 2008;Arjalies 2010). Such screening strategies are argued to resemble pro-social behaviour (Star 2008), which has seen a surge in interest with the popularisation of corporate social responsibility and increased public engagement in sustainability issues due to, among other things, climate change and the global financial crisis.…”

“…This is complicated by the significant variation across countries in terms of operationalisation of SRI and the different levels of take-up (Arjalies 2010;Williams 2007). In Australia the invested capital is significant with AUD $16.15 billion allocated to responsible investment (managed investment portfolios, community finance, green loans and investment portfolios of charities) (RIAA 2010).…”

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AbstractThis Australian study seeks to better understand the disparity between the positive attitudes towards Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and the level of investment in SRI (Saulwick & Associates 2001;Watmore & Bradley 2001;Williams 2007;Arjalies 2010), by examining both the attitudes to SRI and the investment choices that are made. It is hypothesised that those who are more committed to religious belief principles are more likely to invest in SRI.

To test this 322 people from two large Queensland organisations were surveyed in relation to their investment attitudes and preferences.

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The effectiveness of socially responsible investment: a review

“…As early as the seventeenth century and in particular at the beginning of the twentieth century, examples can be found of shareholders whose behaviour was guided by moral considerations, rather than financial motives. The Quakers and Methodists were the first investors to exclude certain stocks from their portfolio for moral considerations, in this case, because of the involvement of companies in tobacco or alcohol (Beloe 2001;Sparkes 2002;Sparkes and Cowton 2004;Louche 2004;Arjaliès 2010). The more recent growth of SRI started in the last quarter of the twentieth century.…”

“…Thompson and Davis (1997) apply social movement theory to analyse shareholder activism in the USA, while Arjaliès (2010) does so for the development of the French SRI sector. Both of these studies interpret shareholder activism as a social movement, whose development and effects are to be further explained by using such a framework.…”