The case for a political economy of accounting: a critique of the arguments
The case for a political economy of accounting: a critique of the arguments
This paper is a report of an empirical study of the ethical investment criteria used by individuals when making investment decisions. The research instrument was a questionnaire developed from a grounded theory study of ethical unit trusts promotional material, non-participant observation of investment meetings of an ethical investment club and interviews with club members. The questionnaire was distributed to 388 known ethical investors (group 1), and 650 individuals who expressed an interest in investing ethically but of whom it was not known if they had actually invested using ethical criteria (group 2). When the results were collated usable responses were received from 561 individuals, 485 of who had invested using ethical criteria. A response rate of 67% from group one was achieved and 46% from group 2, an overall response rate of 54%.
The research suggests that ethical investors are concerned with the environment, with animals and with people and that these concerns are expressed in their use of investment criteria that encompass not only the products and services of organisations but also its processes and philosophy. There would appear to be greater unanimity of purpose with respect to the use of investment criteria concerning the processes and philosophy of organisations than with the products or services provided by organisations. The use of factor analysis identified eight factors that explain the constructs used by ethical investors.
It is suggested that the findings of this research support the contention of Kurtz (1997) that ‘It is the nature of SRI that it responds to the changing political and social landscape’ (p.44), in that many of the issues of concern to current ethical investors are different from the issues considered important in earlier studies. And further, that the levels of concern have also changed.
Woodward, D.
2033180f-0bcd-45e7-91dd-92b673e2ae72
Woodward, T.
2f50a986-666c-4a60-90ad-9fd74fd33fc1
2000
Woodward, D.
2033180f-0bcd-45e7-91dd-92b673e2ae72
Woodward, T.
2f50a986-666c-4a60-90ad-9fd74fd33fc1
Woodward, D. and Woodward, T.
(2000)
The case for a political economy of accounting: a critique of the arguments.
23rd Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association, Munich, Germany.
28 - 30 Mar 2000.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
This paper is a report of an empirical study of the ethical investment criteria used by individuals when making investment decisions. The research instrument was a questionnaire developed from a grounded theory study of ethical unit trusts promotional material, non-participant observation of investment meetings of an ethical investment club and interviews with club members. The questionnaire was distributed to 388 known ethical investors (group 1), and 650 individuals who expressed an interest in investing ethically but of whom it was not known if they had actually invested using ethical criteria (group 2). When the results were collated usable responses were received from 561 individuals, 485 of who had invested using ethical criteria. A response rate of 67% from group one was achieved and 46% from group 2, an overall response rate of 54%.
The research suggests that ethical investors are concerned with the environment, with animals and with people and that these concerns are expressed in their use of investment criteria that encompass not only the products and services of organisations but also its processes and philosophy. There would appear to be greater unanimity of purpose with respect to the use of investment criteria concerning the processes and philosophy of organisations than with the products or services provided by organisations. The use of factor analysis identified eight factors that explain the constructs used by ethical investors.
It is suggested that the findings of this research support the contention of Kurtz (1997) that ‘It is the nature of SRI that it responds to the changing political and social landscape’ (p.44), in that many of the issues of concern to current ethical investors are different from the issues considered important in earlier studies. And further, that the levels of concern have also changed.
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Published date: 2000
Venue - Dates:
23rd Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association, Munich, Germany, 2000-03-28 - 2000-03-30
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Local EPrints ID: 36638
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/36638
PURE UUID: 41c378cb-e632-4e5b-9a6a-b5780bc361a3
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Date deposited: 31 Jul 2006
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 15:33
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Author:
D. Woodward
Author:
T. Woodward
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