Social Investment and Responsible Investment: Their Relationship and Intersections in the Mining Industry

Abstract

This chapter investigates the relationship between the increasing importance and prevalence of corporate social investment as a response to responsible investing initiatives in the multinational mining sector. It does so by presenting the demands of mining on communities in developing countries and why both corporate social investment and responsible investing initiatives are being advanced through the creation of corporate foundations. The first stage of analysis establishes the relationship between corporate social investment and responsible investing to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It then delineates a dichotomy between the drivers for social investment rooted in arguments for CSR based on normative values and the drivers for responsible investing initiatives stemming from the empirical “business case” arguments for CSR. However, this dichotomy offers limited insight into the relationship between social investment and responsible investing. To further the investigation, a new conceptual framework is proposed. It argues that there is a distinction between the origin of responsible investing and the origin of corporate social investing. However, in delineating this schism in the performance of CSR practices, certain conflicts arise. These conflicts are evident when the original intent of CSR diverges from current aspirations of social investment and responsible investing. Interrogating the use of corporate foundations in the mining industry against this framework confirms the utility of the framework. It highlights the directionality of structuring the relationship between social investment and responsible investment as a response to responsible investment initiatives. It finds social investment more evident in industry discourse than in practice. Finally, this chapter reveals that with aspirational use, there are potential operating integrations between social investment and responsible investing.