Abstract
Since its inception in 2006, the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have grown to over 1300 signatories representing over $45 trillion. This growth is not slowing down. In this paper, we argue that there is a set of attributes which make the PRI salient as a stakeholder and its claim to sign the six PRI important to institutional investors. We use Mitchell et al.’s (Acad Manag Rev 22:853–886, 1997) theoretical framework of stakeholder salience, as extended by Gifford (J Bus Eth 92:79–97, 2010). We use as evidence confidential data from the annual survey of signatories carried out by the PRI in a 5-year period between 2007 and 2011. The findings highlight pragmatic and organizational legitimacy, normative and utilitarian power, and management values as the attributes that contribute most to the salience of the PRI as a stakeholder.
Highlights
As recurring financial crises and financial market instability are prompting a reconsideration of how we invest (Woods and Urwin 2010), there is increased interest from academics and practitioners in responsible investment strategies
The findings highlight pragmatic and organizational legitimacy, normative and utilitarian power, and management values as the attributes that contribute most to the salience of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) as a stakeholder
We have argued that there is a set of attributes that make the PRI as a stakeholder and its claim to sign the six PRI salient to institutional investors
Summary
As recurring financial crises and financial market instability are prompting a reconsideration of how we invest (Woods and Urwin 2010), there is increased interest from academics and practitioners in responsible investment strategies. If responsible investment is part of the answer to the troubles of the financial system, it is important to know what causes investors to take this strategy on board. Institutional investors as a group of financial actors with distinct motivations (Jansson and Biel 2011) and barriers (Guyatt 2006) to adopting ESG are worthy of scrutiny. They control the majority of total shareholdings -84 % in the UK (Mallin 2007)—and in most countries account for the overwhelming majority of SRI assets (Jansson and Biel 2011). A wide adoption of ESG by institutional investors would mean real momentum behind the ESG movement (Sandberg 2011)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
