The Norwegian Government Pension Fund: Ethics Over Efficiency

7 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2010

See all articles by Gordon L. Clark

Gordon L. Clark

Oxford University - Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment

Ashby Monk

Stanford University

Date Written: Spring 2010

Abstract

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global has an explicit mission to integrate long-term investment return objectives with an ambitious ethical commitment. This approach has drawn praise among Western policymakers. However, we contend that the ethical investment policy of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global presents a paradox, as the manner in which the country applies its ethical criteria to investment management transgresses best practice as we define it. As a result, we believe that Norway has chosen to discount functional efficiency in favor of exerting a “fundamental social perspective”. This may have unfavorable consequences in the long run. Nonetheless, we recognize the current approach is the source of the public and political legitimacy the Fund enjoys today.

Keywords: Democracy, Ethics, Investment, Norwegian, Pension Fund, Resources, Sovereign Wealth Fund

Suggested Citation

Clark, Gordon L. and Monk, Ashby, The Norwegian Government Pension Fund: Ethics Over Efficiency (Spring 2010). Rotman International Journal of Pension Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1618834 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1618834

Gordon L. Clark (Contact Author)

Oxford University - Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/glclark.html

Ashby Monk

Stanford University ( email )

United States