Active First Movers vs. Late Free-Riders? An Empirical Analysis of UN PRI Signatories' Commitment

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Standard

Active First Movers vs. Late Free-Riders? An Empirical Analysis of UN PRI Signatories' Commitment. / Bauckloh, Tobias; Schaltegger, Stefan; Utz, Sebastian et al.
in: Journal of Business Ethics, Jahrgang 182, Nr. 3, 01.2023, S. 747-781.

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Harvard

APA

Vancouver

Bauckloh T, Schaltegger S, Utz S, Zeile S, Zwergel B. Active First Movers vs. Late Free-Riders? An Empirical Analysis of UN PRI Signatories' Commitment. Journal of Business Ethics. 2023 Jan;182(3):747-781. doi: 10.1007/s10551-021-04992-0

Bibtex

@article{fe7e44820dc5435c8d405d80d6bb9fcd,
title = "Active First Movers vs. Late Free-Riders? An Empirical Analysis of UN PRI Signatories' Commitment",
abstract = "Joining voluntary thematic initiatives can be a means for firms to legitimate their business activities. However, a lack of review mechanisms could create incentives for free-riding. This might lead to a lower commitment to the initiative{\textquoteright}s principles, and endanger its credibility and its members{\textquoteright} legitimacy benefits. Whether members of voluntary initiatives take advantage of the opportunity to free-ride has not been analyzed empirically so far. To fill this research gap, we investigate from an institutional theory perspective the actual implementation behavior of publicly listed signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) in a difference-in-differences and an event study setting. Our empirical results show that, after signing, UN PRI signatories integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in their business activities significantly more than matched non-signatories from the financial sector, indicating the commitment of the signatories to the UN PRI in general. However, while the initial members show a high commitment to the initiative{\textquoteright}s principles by increasing their ESG integration performance substantially, new members signing at a later stage of the initiative perform considerably less, and thus undermine the UN PRI{\textquoteright}s credibility. We derive implications for voluntary thematic initiatives to avoid such a development.",
keywords = "Voluntary initiatives, Free-riding, Institutional theory, UN principles for responsible investment, Voluntary initiatives, Free-riding, Institutional theory, UN principles for responsible investment, Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics",
author = "Tobias Bauckloh and Stefan Schaltegger and Sebastian Utz and Sebastian Zeile and Bernhard Zwergel",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Kai Hockerts (the editor) and three anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped us improve the article. We are grateful to the participants of the IW{\"O} sustainability winter seminar brownbag series, University of St.Gallen, the Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance 2020 at University of Kassel, and the Online Seminar Series of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS) for helpful comments and discussions. We thank Vigeo Eiris for providing their ESG ratings. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",
year = "2023",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1007/s10551-021-04992-0",
language = "English",
volume = "182",
pages = "747--781",
journal = "Journal of Business Ethics",
issn = "0167-4544",
publisher = "Springer Netherlands",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Active First Movers vs. Late Free-Riders? An Empirical Analysis of UN PRI Signatories' Commitment

AU - Bauckloh, Tobias

AU - Schaltegger, Stefan

AU - Utz, Sebastian

AU - Zeile, Sebastian

AU - Zwergel, Bernhard

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Kai Hockerts (the editor) and three anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped us improve the article. We are grateful to the participants of the IWÖ sustainability winter seminar brownbag series, University of St.Gallen, the Workshop on Empirical Sustainable Finance 2020 at University of Kassel, and the Online Seminar Series of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS) for helpful comments and discussions. We thank Vigeo Eiris for providing their ESG ratings. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

N2 - Joining voluntary thematic initiatives can be a means for firms to legitimate their business activities. However, a lack of review mechanisms could create incentives for free-riding. This might lead to a lower commitment to the initiative’s principles, and endanger its credibility and its members’ legitimacy benefits. Whether members of voluntary initiatives take advantage of the opportunity to free-ride has not been analyzed empirically so far. To fill this research gap, we investigate from an institutional theory perspective the actual implementation behavior of publicly listed signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) in a difference-in-differences and an event study setting. Our empirical results show that, after signing, UN PRI signatories integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in their business activities significantly more than matched non-signatories from the financial sector, indicating the commitment of the signatories to the UN PRI in general. However, while the initial members show a high commitment to the initiative’s principles by increasing their ESG integration performance substantially, new members signing at a later stage of the initiative perform considerably less, and thus undermine the UN PRI’s credibility. We derive implications for voluntary thematic initiatives to avoid such a development.

AB - Joining voluntary thematic initiatives can be a means for firms to legitimate their business activities. However, a lack of review mechanisms could create incentives for free-riding. This might lead to a lower commitment to the initiative’s principles, and endanger its credibility and its members’ legitimacy benefits. Whether members of voluntary initiatives take advantage of the opportunity to free-ride has not been analyzed empirically so far. To fill this research gap, we investigate from an institutional theory perspective the actual implementation behavior of publicly listed signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) in a difference-in-differences and an event study setting. Our empirical results show that, after signing, UN PRI signatories integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in their business activities significantly more than matched non-signatories from the financial sector, indicating the commitment of the signatories to the UN PRI in general. However, while the initial members show a high commitment to the initiative’s principles by increasing their ESG integration performance substantially, new members signing at a later stage of the initiative perform considerably less, and thus undermine the UN PRI’s credibility. We derive implications for voluntary thematic initiatives to avoid such a development.

KW - Voluntary initiatives

KW - Free-riding

KW - Institutional theory

KW - UN principles for responsible investment

KW - Voluntary initiatives

KW - Free-riding

KW - Institutional theory

KW - UN principles for responsible investment

KW - Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119823384&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8fb7d3a1-99a1-3f1a-b117-9c74453c80d5/

U2 - 10.1007/s10551-021-04992-0

DO - 10.1007/s10551-021-04992-0

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 182

SP - 747

EP - 781

JO - Journal of Business Ethics

JF - Journal of Business Ethics

SN - 0167-4544

IS - 3

ER -

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Leveraging Biodiversity Action From Plural Values
  2. Digital Workplace Transformation
  3. Automatic imitation of pro- and antisocial gestures
  4. A Process Perspective on Organizational Failure
  5. Investigation and Modelling of the Influence of Cooling Rates on the Microstructure of AZ91 Alloys
  6. Topologies of judgement
  7. Die Erinnerung im Gepäck
  8. Front in the mouth, front in the word
  9. Naturaleza en lienzo
  10. Guidance for assessing interregional ecosystem service flows
  11. Interregional flows of multiple ecosystem services through global trade in wild species
  12. Über Franz Hessel
  13. Decolonizing Otherness through a Transcultural Lens: Conclusion
  14. One-third Codetermination at Company Supervisory Boards and Firm Performance in German Manufacturing Industries
  15. Siedlungsqualität, Wohnqualität
  16. In search of maturity models in agritechs
  17. Linking Prefunding Venture Structure and Venture Capital Exit Performance
  18. User experience and behavior concerning digital scaffolding during EFL speaking practice
  19. Towards the design of organosilicon compounds for environmental degradation by using structure biodegradability relationships
  20. Host plant availability potentially limits butterfly distributions under cold environmental conditions
  21. Networks of Clusters
  22. Effectiveness of One Videoconference-Based Exposure and Response Prevention Session at Home in Adjunction to Inpatient Treatment in Persons With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  23. Citizen Relationship Management (CRM)
  24. Linking stakeholder survey, scenario analysis, and simulation modeling to explore the long-term impacts of regional water governance regimes
  25. Geometrical Accuracy in Two-Stage Incremental Sheet Forming with Active Medium
  26. What shapes ground beetle assemblages in a tree species-rich subtropical forest?
  27. Land use change and the future of biodiversity