Collaborative investor engagement with policymakers: changing the rules of the game?
Abstract
Purpose
Applying universal ownership theory and drawing on a multiplecase study design, this study aims to analyze what drives institutional investors to engage with government entities and what challenges they find in the process.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors relied on document analysis and conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with representatives from asset owners, asset managers, investor associations and academia.
Findings
The authors identify a trend where investors conduct policy engagement to fulfill their fiduciary duty, improve investment risk management and create an enabling environment for sustainable investments. As for engagement challenges, investors report the longer-term horizon, a perceived limited influence toward governments, the need for capacity building for investors and governments, as well as the difficulty in accessing government representatives.
Originality/value
This research contributes to filling a gap in the literature on this new form of investor activism, as a growing number of investors engage with sovereign entities on environmental, social and governance issues.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all anonymous interviewees as well as Alexandra Hüttel, Heiner von Lüpke (both German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin), the participants of the first Conference on Sustainable Banking and Finance CSBF 2023 at University of Naples and discussants Naoko Ishii (University of Tokyo) and Jason Mitchell (Man Group) at the UN PRI Academic Conference 2023 for their valuable feedback, comments and suggestions.
Funding: The authors are pleased to acknowledge funding from the project SNAPFI (Strengthening National Climate Policy Implementation: Comparative Empirical Learning and Creating Linkages to Climate Finance, grant number 29.4157). This project is part of the International Climate Initiative. This funding source had no role in the research process or in the decision to submit this study for publication.
Citation
Yamahaki, C. and Marchewitz, C. (2024), "Collaborative investor engagement with policymakers: changing the rules of the game?", Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRFM-08-2023-0201
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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