scholarly journals Nudges in SRI: The Power of the Default Option

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Francois Gajewski ◽  
Marco Heimann ◽  
Luc Meunier
Keyword(s):  
Significant Influence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Message Content ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Default Option ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Retail Investors ◽  
Set Up

AbstractWe introduce nudges in order to incite investors to choose Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds instead of traditional funds. We have set up two online experiments with a total of 713 US retail investors, using three types of nudges to elicit their effects on investors’ SRI investments level: making SRI the default investment, introducing a SRI explanation message, and priming ethical values by displaying shocking images. Making SRI the default option is the most efficient nudge to influence investors towards SRI. Its effect is twofold. First, around 50% of investors do not opt-out of the default allocation. Second, even investors who opt-out of the default allocation invest more in SRI than those in the control group, an effect that appears driven by anchoring. Although investors subjected to both priming and message content marginally increase their SRI investment, priming or message content in isolation appears to have a non-significant influence. For choice architects who want to steer retail investors towards SRI funds, making them the default option appears to be the most powerful nudge.

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mohd Nizam Barom
Keyword(s):  
Investment Decision ◽  
Socially Responsible Investing ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Screening Strategies ◽  
Investment Process ◽  
Islamic Investment

Understanding Socially Responsible Investing and Its Implications for Islamic Investment Industry // // // // // Social, ethical and environmental concerns have been used as important consideration for investment decision by an increasing number of investors. This can be seen by the size and growth of the socially responsible investment (SRI) industry in the developed economies. At the same time, scholars and commentators of Islamic finance have also called for Islamic investment industry to learn from the experience of SRI in incorporating social responsibility issues in the investment process, in line with the ethical principles of Islam and the overall objective of the Shari’ah (Maqasid al-Shari’ah). This would require Islamic investment sector to have a clear understanding of the SRI industry in order to effectively benefit from its experience. This is particularly critical due to the significant diversity of investors and complexity in the issues and strategies adopted in the SRI industry. Hence, this paper adds to the Islamic investment literature by providing an extensive  and systematic survey of SRI industry in terms of its (i) underlying motivations and values; (ii) issues of concerns; (iii) types of investors; and (iv) screening strategies. It then synthesizes these components within the context of the ‘value-based’ investors. This synthesized framework offers a useful tool for Islamic investment practitioners to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of SRI. Subsequently, the paper highlights important implications of the findings for Islamic investment industry in terms of the issues that it needs to consider in emulating SRI practices and a number of lessons that it can learn from the SRI experience.  

Onchocerciasis in Osse, Ondo State, Nigeria: Effectiveness of Motivational Strategies in Sustaining Compliance with Community Ivermectin Therapy

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-189
Author(s):  
O. U. Manafa ◽  
T. S. Awolola ◽  
A. N. Isamah
Keyword(s):  
Community Intervention ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Participant Satisfaction ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Ondo State ◽  
Set Up ◽  
High Level ◽  
Knowledge Attitudes And Practices

A study in human Onchocerciasis was undertaken in four endemic communities in Ondo State, Nigeria. In-depth interviews were conducted on peoples' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding Onchocerciasis aetiology, treatment, prevention, and symptoms. These were complemented by key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Based on this information, an educational program was set up which included the training of selected villagers (motivators) and community intervention organized by these motivators. Evaluation used a control group where intervention was focused on other health problems in the area. Onchocerciasis education took place only with the intervention group. At the start of the project, peoples' knowledge about Onchocerciasis, its cause, treatment, prevention, and symptoms were varied and only a small proportion could link the bite of the blackfly to Onchocerciasis. The educational intervention achieved a high level of participant satisfaction which was expressed in continuous attendance at workshops and keeping appointments with motivators. The intervention helped to bring a significant improvement in the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of the respondents. The knowledge of Onchocerciasis aetiology increased to 79.8 percent, 71.5 percent, and 74 percent from 48.5 percent, 48.7 percent, 34 percent, and 45 percent pre-intervention in the four study areas used. The project demonstrated that a community-based health education can be effective in Onchocerciasis control.

scholarly journals The Link Between SRI and Financial Performance: Effects and Moderators

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Revelli ◽  
Jean-Laurent Viviani
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Socially Responsible Investment ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Counting Approach ◽  
Performance Effects ◽  
Vote Counting

Over the last twenty years, the debate on financial performance of socially responsible investment (SRI) has not yielded a clear consensus, arguing mainly that there was no difference in performance between SRI and ‘conventional’ investment, although SRI could underperform or outperform in some cases. Our research, based on a meta-analysis ‘vote-counting’ approach of the empirical literature, allows us to observe that the effects of SRI on financial performance are multiple. Second, we conclude that the financial performance of SRI is radically changing according to the empirical methods employed by researchers.

Private ethical fund investors across countries and time: a survey-based review

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anett Wins ◽  
Bernhard Zwergel
Keyword(s):  
Keyword Search ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Screening Criteria ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Private Investors ◽  
Ethical Funds ◽  
Fund Portfolio

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an overview of the literature to point out similarities and differences among private ethical investors across countries and time. Over the past three decades, many surveys have been conducted to advance the understanding of the demographic characteristics, motivation and morals of private ethical investors across countries and time. To date, the survey-based evidence on private investors into ethical funds is geographically rather segmented, and the research questions are fairly diverse. This permits only very temporally or regionally selective conclusions. Thereby, the authors identify interesting topics for future research. Design/methodology/approach – To identify the relevant literature for our review, the authors carried out a structured Boolean keyword search using major library services and databases. Findings – When questions about negative screening criteria are presented in a direct investment context, the consensus of private ethical investors “worldwide” (on average) is that social screening issues are most important, followed by ecological and moral topics. The percentage of ethical funds in the fund portfolio of the average private ethical investor in Europe seems to increase when the investor exhibits high degrees of pro-social attitudes and perceived consumer effectiveness. European private ethical investors are of the opinion that ethical funds perform worse but are less risky than conventional funds. Practical implications – The authors make suggestions on how investment companies should design their funds so that they can attract more socially responsible investors. Originality/value – The paper is of particular value because it focuses on private investors in the fast growing retail market of socially responsible investment funds.

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