Institutionalization of socially responsible investment in Canadian pension funds : a grounded-theory approach

The academic literature's emphasis, in the role of pension funds in socially responsible investment, remains focused on macro discussions such as the suitability of SRI for pension fund investment and normative discussions of how pension funds can be catalysts for change towards global sustainability. It is also noted by some commentators that via pension funds, the environmental, social and governance issues that underpin SRI are becoming a part of mainstream investment. These macro level claims provide very limited evidence of, or insights into, the actual functioning or close-to-reality experiences of pension funds in the context of SRI, which is vital in fully comprehending the role of pension funds in achieving sustainable business activities. This thesis investigates and analyzes the micro level developments and dynamics that hinder or facilitate integration of SRI into pension fund investment to address the above mentioned divide. Using a grounded theory approach, the thesis presents a theoretical model of institutionalization of SRI into pension fund investment. Taking a social constructionist perspective and the related concept of human agency, it proposes that cognitive factors, coupled with structural context, determine whether a pension fund integrates or discards SRI strategies in its investment processes. The model is based on in-depth case studies of three pension funds, each with certain distinguished and similar characteristics, to provide judicious explanations of what affects the institutionalization of SRI. The thesis explains how pension fund trustees and managers customize and internalize a position on SRI based on particular 'constructions' or 'interpretations' of the concept and of fiduciary responsibility. It also posits that the context of each pension fund presented in the thesis is different and that although all three have similar broader objective, i.e. to provide retirement income to its members, each has specific investment objectives, constraints and institutional environments that are unique. Thus, all pension funds or institutional investors do not have a common investment approach towards achieving their goals and cannot be categorized as principals of economic rationality in the capital market. The duality of context and agency in creating investment processes and changes within that is stressed in this thesis.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Institutionalization of socially responsible investment in Canadian pension funds : a grounded-theory approach

The academic literature's emphasis, in the role of pension funds in socially responsible investment, remains focused on macro discussions such as the suitability of SRI for pension fund investment and normative discussions of how pension funds can be catalysts for change towards global sustainability. It is also noted by some commentators that via pension funds, the environmental, social and governance issues that underpin SRI are becoming a part of mainstream investment. These macro level claims provide very limited evidence of, or insights into, the actual functioning or close-to-reality experiences of pension funds in the context of SRI, which is vital in fully comprehending the role of pension funds in achieving sustainable business activities. This thesis investigates and analyzes the micro level developments and dynamics that hinder or facilitate integration of SRI into pension fund investment to address the above mentioned divide. Using a grounded theory approach, the thesis presents a theoretical model of institutionalization of SRI into pension fund investment. Taking a social constructionist perspective and the related concept of human agency, it proposes that cognitive factors, coupled with structural context, determine whether a pension fund integrates or discards SRI strategies in its investment processes. The model is based on in-depth case studies of three pension funds, each with certain distinguished and similar characteristics, to provide judicious explanations of what affects the institutionalization of SRI. The thesis explains how pension fund trustees and managers customize and internalize a position on SRI based on particular 'constructions' or 'interpretations' of the concept and of fiduciary responsibility. It also posits that the context of each pension fund presented in the thesis is different and that although all three have similar broader objective, i.e. to provide retirement income to its members, each has specific investment objectives, constraints and institutional environments that are unique. Thus, all pension funds or institutional investors do not have a common investment approach towards achieving their goals and cannot be categorized as principals of economic rationality in the capital market. The duality of context and agency in creating investment processes and changes within that is stressed in this thesis

Does adding clinical data to administrative data improve agreement among hospital quality measures?

BACKGROUND: Hospital performance measures based on patient mortality and readmission have indicated modest rates of agreement. We examined if combining clinical data on laboratory tests and vital signs with administrative data leads to improved agreement with each other, and with other measures of hospital performance in the nation\u27s largest integrated health care system. METHODS: We used patient-level administrative and clinical data, and hospital-level data on quality indicators, for 2007-2010 from the Veterans Health Administration (VA). For patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF) and pneumonia we examined changes in hospital performance on 30-d mortality and 30-d readmission rates as a result of adding clinical data to administrative data. We evaluated whether this enhancement yielded improved measures of hospital quality, based on concordance with other hospital quality indicators. RESULTS: For 30-d mortality, data enhancement improved model performance, and significantly changed hospital performance profiles; for 30-d readmission, the impact was modest. Concordance between enhanced measures of both outcomes, and with other hospital quality measures - including Joint Commission process measures, VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) mortality and morbidity, and case volume - remained poor. CONCLUSIONS: Adding laboratory tests and vital signs to measure hospital performance on mortality and readmission did not improve the poor rates of agreement across hospital quality indicators in the VA. INTERPRETATION: Efforts to improve risk adjustment models should continue; however, evidence of validation should precede their use as reliable measures of quality