Sources of Stakeholder Salience in the Responsible Investment Movement: Why Do Investors Sign the Principles for Responsible Investment?

Abstract

Using five years of internal proprietary data collected directly from United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) signatories, we examine the attributes of the stakeholder relationship between the PRI and investment organizations. The analysis is carried out in the framework of Mitchell et al.’s (1997) theory of stakeholder salience and its further developments by Gifford (2010).

The findings highlight pragmatic legitimacy, organizational legitimacy, power attributes and management values as the factors having the most impact on the salience of the claim to sign the PRI in the eyes of investors.

Keywords: stakeholder salience theory, Principles for Responsible Investment, PRI, UNPRI, responsible investment, socially responsible investment, stakeholder theory