Collective beliefs for responsible investment

International audienceThe financial community does not seem to have shifted yet to greater sustainability, despite increasing awareness and concerns around social and environmental issues. In this paper, we provide insights to help understand why. Building on responsible investment (RI) data from the UK financial press between 1982 and 2010, we examine the collective beliefs which financial actors rely on to take decisions under uncertainty, as a way of understanding the status of and implications for RI mainstreaming. Our results identify five periods that characterize RI over time. The “civil rights” years (1982-1991), the “green niche” years (1992-1997), the “professionalization” years (1998-2000), the “SRI” years (2001-2004) and the “ESG” years (2005-ongoing) follow each other with specific representations and practices for RI. The analysis of the collective beliefs leads us to define two theoretical dimensions – justifying RI and practicing RI—that allow us to characterize how mainstream actors collectively make sense of RI. Our data confirm the existence of collective beliefs around RI and highlights changes in the content of the collective beliefs throughout the five periods, demonstrating a dynamic in the RI field. Our analysis reveals that the RI collective beliefs currently (1) do not provide a favorable environment for RI mainstreaming and (2) need to be taken into account when discussing the value of sustainability

CSR in Belgium: the institutional context and practices

Corporate Social Responsibility is a quite recent concept in Belgium which has gained significant momentum since 1995. In May 1997, Belgium set up a legal framework for sustainable development. In April 2006, the government adopted a Reference Framework for CSR followed in 2007 by the CSR action plan. Next to governmental initiatives, the number of actors and platforms involved in CSR has significantly increased leading to the multiplication of CSR initiatives. However, it would be overoptimistic to state that CSR is a well and equally established concept and a set of practices among all Belgian companies. Indeed, CSR in Belgium offers great disparities and diversities. Based on multiple sources of information, the paper provides a descriptive and narrative view on CSR in Belgium, gradually leading towards reflection by the end of the paper. After a brief overview of the context for corporate social responsibility in Belgium, the paper investigates the different components that have been shaping CSR since the 1970s. Subsequently it zooms in to the CSR practices in Belgian companies. Finally, conclusions are drawn on the progress made in Belgium in the area of corporate social responsibility and the future prospects

When workplace unionism in global value chains does not function well : exploring the impediments

Improving working conditions at the bottom of global value chains has become a central issue in our global economy. In this battle, trade unionism has been presented as a way for workers to make their voices heard. Therefore, it is strongly promoted by most social standards. However, establishing a well-functioning trade union is not as obvious as it may seem. Using a comparative case study approach, we examine impediments to farm-level unionism in the cut flower industry in Ethiopia. For this purpose, we propose an integrated framework combining two lenses, namely a vertical one (governance and structure of global value chains) and a horizontal one (socio-economic context). We identify 10 impediments that point to three major dimensions contributing to unionisation. These three dimensions include awareness of and interest from workers, legitimacy of trade unions, and capacity of trade unions to act. Furthermore, our results suggest that private social standards may, in certain cases, be counterproductive for the efficient functioning of trade unions. Although we argue that there is no ‘quick fix’ solution to weak workplace unionism at the bottom of global value chains, we stress the importance of considering the dynamics of, and interactions between, the impediments when designing potential support measures that mitigate negative impacts

Corporate Social Responsibility: The investor’s perspective

International audienc